Washington backs Cyprus’s EEZ rights
US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon expressed Washington’s support Friday for Cyprus’s right to exploit the natural resources within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Turkey has warned that it will not allow Cyprus to drill for and exploit gas reserves in its EEZ unless Turkish Cypriots in the island’s Turkish-occupied north are included in the project.
Fannon met in Athens with Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis and government officials and conveyed Washington’s plaudits for Greece’s efforts to become an energy transit hub with its participation in the Southern Gas Corridor and the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipelines.
