Turkey has started exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the town of Iskele in northern Cyprus (red arrow), angering the government of the Greek-controlled southern region.
The Turkish Petroleum Corporation began onshore drilling operations on April 26 at a 3,000-meter-deep well, named “Türkyurdu-1″ (“Turkish Homeland”), which Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız called a “force for peace in Cyprus.”
So far, however, the well has proven to be just the opposite.
Battle for gas exacerbating hostilities over divided island
A race is underway for access to the hydrocarbon resources of Cyprus.The competitors are the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which fell under Turkish control in 1974 but is now only recognized as an independent country by Turkey itself, and the Republic of Cyprus, which is controlled by a Greek Cypriot government and has membership in the European Union.
When U.S. firm Noble Energy found large reserves of natural gas off the coast of Cyprus last year, Turkey asserted its right to also drill for the precious fuel in the onshore and offshore areas of the TRNC. The Republic of Cyprus refused, but Turkey has now proceeded anyway.
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