Brussels defends Cyprus rights in oil row with Turkey
(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission on Friday backed Cyprus's right to grant offshore oil and gas exploration rights to Egypt and Lebanon, amid reports of a naval build-up in the region from neighbouring Turkey.
EU member Cyprus "is fully sovereign for international agreements it concludes and it cannot be questioned," a spokeswoman for the EU's executive arm said.
She added that any agreements should be in line with EU legislation and called for "moderation and restraint on this issue".
Ankara on Thursday denied stepping up its naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean amid the growing row with Cyprus over the divided island's oil and gas exploration rights.
The Commission comments came after Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas wrote a letter to it seeking a response to the situation.
Cyprus' EU ambassador Nicholas Emiliou said there had not been confirmation of increased Turkish naval activity, but slammed Ankara's attitude on the oil rights issue.
"They have no legal claim," he told AFP.
"The area we are talking about is well to the south of Cyprus, between Cyprus and Egypt. Even geographically it is not an area of Cyprus which is adjacent to Turkey," the ambassador said.
"I think this kind of attitude is typical of Turkish behaviour and shows that nothing changes. They have been having the same problems with Greece over the last 30 years and now Turkey is threatening another three countries in the same manner, Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon".
In a harshly worded statement Tuesday, the Turkish foreign ministry warned Egypt and Lebanon to delay the oil and gas deals which it said infringed the rights of the island's breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet.
"Turkey is determined to protect its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean and will not allow attempts that would erode them," the statement said, declaring the deals invalid.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, whose Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Ankara, said his community would not give up on what he called its exploration rights.
