Press Releases

The Republic of Cyprus strongly condemns the announcement by Turkey for the conduct of a new illegal seismic survey in the continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus, in violation of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and customary International Law. The illegal Turkish NAVTEX issued late yesterday evening, covers part of the maritime area that has been lawfully delimited between the Republic of Cyprus and Egypt, by virtue of the bilateral Delimitation Agreement of 2003, and spans parts of offshore exploration blocks 5 and 6 of the EEZ of Cyprus, the latter having been duly licensed to European companies.

Through this new utterly provocative action, Turkey continues to behave as a compulsive rule-breaker of International Law, who stubbornly refuses to comply with the repeated calls of the European Union and the international community to terminate its illegal activities and respect the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus.

The new illegal seismic surveys by Turkey, constitute yet another sign of utter contempt towards the European Union, given that only recently, after a thorough discussion on Turkey, at a Leaders level, the European Council clearly called on Turkey to refrain from unilateral actions that run contrary to international law and the sovereign rights of EU Member States, expressing at the same time its intention to revert to the issue and review Turkey’s overall behaviour, next December.

Turkey needs to understand that such actions do not contribute to creating a positive atmosphere, necessary for conducting a constructive dialogue with a view to resolving the Cyprus issue.

(RM/II)