Turkey threatens reprisals over oil exploration off Cyprus

Turkey on Friday warned of reprisals against international firms seeking to carry out oil and gas explorations off the coasts of Cyprus and urged an even division of the island's resources between its Turkish and Greek populations. This reaction by Turkey comes at the heels of the decision by the Greek Cypriots to open bids for the second time for energy exploration, a step that will surely ratchet up tension between Turkey and Greece. A statement by the Turkish foreign ministry warned that companies that enter into energy bidding in Cyprus will be deprived of taking part in energy projects in Turkey, underlining this step by the Greek Cypriots as illegal and a violation of the interests of Turkish Cypriots. Moreover the statement indicated that the decision regarding the future of energy projects in the island of Cyprus should be conjointly arrived at by both Turkish and Greek populations living there. Last year, the government of Greek Cyprus signed an energy exploration contract with US energy firm Noble, which discovered off the coast of the island gas reserves of up to 226 billion cubic meters. This step irked Turkey which retaliated by launching its own exploratory drilling in coastal region of Turkish Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided between ethnic Turks and Greeks since 1974, when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.