Çavuşoğlu: “We are moving our second platform to the South of Cyprus and starting to drill”
21 February, 2019Çavuşoğlu: “We are starting to drill around Cyprus”
21 February, 2019Underlining that the federal partnership model based on sharing in Cyprus was tried and exhausted, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kudret Özersay stated that the negotiation process in Cyprus has actually collapsed.
In his statement to AA correspondent, Özersay reiterated that the Greek Cypriot side can carry out their unilateral natural gas exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean in the context of international references as the Turkish Cypriot side has mentioned before.
Özersay announced that the TRNC and Turkey would start natural gas exploration activities in areas that belong to them under the licences given. Pointing out that there is a duty for the international community and energy companies to encourage the Greek Cypriot side to obtain the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side in the natural gas exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Özersay said that this was not the case up to now.
Özersay indicated that the Turkish Cypriot side was not in a position to wait for the international community to take a step forward and continued:
As the TRNC we shall use our means, instruments and capabilities in order to prevent the Greek Cypriot side from usurping our rights. We shall try to implement our own rights by ourselves. I think that everyone has noted that we are doing this in a diplomatic and peaceful way.
Kudret Özersay stated that the negotiation process has actually collapsed following the Cyprus Conference in Crans-Montana in Switzerland and the approach of the UN is towards this direction.
Özersay stated that in the period of the Annan Plan in 2004 it was tried to conduct a closed end negotiation method based on a calendar and it was exhausted.
‘It is a proven reality for all of us what cannot be done in the Cyprus Negotiations. A federal partnership based on sharing has been discussed for 50 years in Cyprus and has been tried and exhausted. If the Greek Side will not come close to a partnership based on sharing, a cooperation-based partnership should be tried. However if the Greek Side will also not accept a cooperation-based partnership, they will find themselves sharing the island without their consent’.