Turkey claims share of gas for Turk Cypriots

Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Donmez claims a portion of the Cypriot field in Block 6 on behalf of Turkish Cypriots, but concedes that the Republic of Cyprus’ exploration is outside the boundaries of jurisdiction that Turkey says its continental shelf spans.

“Block 6 [where the research is taking place] is outside Turkey’s jurisdiction, but we would be wrong to see Cyprus as consisting of only one side. Everyone living on the island of Cyprus has a right to benefit from the resources. We believe that it is not fair for transactions to take place when the other party is ignored,” he said.

Ankara claims its continental shelf extends all the way to the northwest edge of Block 6. 

Donmez stated that Turkey will continue explorations and drillings “in our regions of authority” in the Mediterranean.

Last week, the Cypriot Energy announced that the operations of the Zeus-1 exploratory drilling, within Block 6 of the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, by the consortium of Eni and TotalEnergies, were successfully and safely completed.

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the discovery of a new 58 billion cubic meters natural gas field in the Black Sea. Erdogan insisted that the value of the Black Sea gas reached $1 trillion in international markets.

In the meantime, a stalemate has arisen in Turkey’s negotiations with the US over the F-16s as according to the Turkish newspaper Sabah, US officials have demanded payment of a price for parking the F-35s in hangars which were never delivered to Turkey due to CAATSA sanctions. Turkey is claiming compensation for the damages suffered by Turkish defense industries from the F-35 co-production program. Analysts believe that such disputes will cause new delays in the issue of F-16 upgrades.