Turkey may use its armed forces to stop any gas drilling exploration in waters it considers its own, AP has reported.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has declared that Turkey has “the right to prevent” any “unauthorized drilling” in waters that, in his words, “are within its continental shelf.” When asked directly whether Turkey could use military means to halt such drilling, Cavusoglu replied: “Of course.”
Part of the area to which Turkey lays claim is Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone, where companies, including French Total and Italian Eni, have received joint drilling permits from the Cypriot government.
Other companies that have obtained licenses for hydrocarbon exploration in Cyprus’s territory include ExxonMobil, in partnership with Qatar Petroleum, as well as a commercial consortium made up of Texas-based Noble Energy, Dutch Shell and Israeli Delek.
Turkey has stated that its claims to a large zone in the Mediterranean are reinforced by an agreement it signed with the Libyan government that defines the maritime borders of the two countries.
Greece, Egypt and Cyprus, which lie geographically between those two countries, have condemned the deal, calling it contrary to international law, and Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week.
Cyprus has filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Turkey for violating its sovereign rights.
