Authorities in Nicosia are seriously concerned about the lack of protection from Brussels amid the potential threat of Ankara and the new authorities in Damascus demarcating the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Turkey and Syria without coordination of this issue with the Republic of Cyprus. This was stated by the official representative of the Cypriot government with the rank of minister Konstantinos Letimpiotis.
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“Cyprus is a member of the EU. The Republic of Cyprus is directly and indirectly affected by what is happening, and, unfortunately, the corresponding developments in our region have shown us that the EU’s reflexes are not what we expected, or not what these times require,” – he said.
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Letympiotis stressed that the Cypriot authorities have developed a roadmap for greater EU involvement in shaping the future destiny of Syria and the entire Eastern Mediterranean region precisely because there is an urgent need for it.
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“We believe that practical support from Brussels for the states of the region could be the answer to the gap that may have been created in recent years,” he added.
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In this regard, a representative of official Nicosia recalled that “any violation of the territorial integrity of Cyprus is a violation of the territory of the European Union.” Letympiotis also stressed that in light of “Turkey’s renewed interest in relations with the EU, as well as the relationship of this process with the Cyprus problem,” the EU should “remind with consistency, intensity and frequency” the need to preserve the territorial integrity of Cyprus, “to make it clear that International law cannot be ignored.”
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In 2010, Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon demarcated their exclusive economic zones. In 2011, Cyprus, within its EEZ, began gas exploration on the island’s shelf with the support of friendly countries. However, Turkey, which has not recognized the Republic of Cyprus since 1963, disputes the boundaries of its EEZ, saying it will not allow exploration drilling off the island’s coast without the consent of the Turkish Cypriot community.
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Ankara periodically sends its drilling ships to the Cyprus shelf area, which proceed there accompanied by warships. According to Turkey itself, these actions are carried out on the basis of licenses issued by the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Ankara in the world community. These actions became the reason for the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Turkey.
