EU Leaders Seriously Concerned at Cyprus, Turkey Tensions
European Union leaders will call on Turkey to respect Cyprus's sovereign rights, expressing "serious concern" at fresh tensions between the two countries over oil and gas exploration, a draft summit document showed Thursday.
The statement, to be issued at an EU summit in Brussels, comes after Cyprus on Monday slammed Turkey for sending a survey vessel into an area where the Cypriot government had already licensed exploratory drilling for oil and gas.
"The European Council expressed serious concern about the renewed tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. It called on Turkey to respect Cyprus' sovereign rights," said the statement prepared for the 28 EU leaders meeting in Brussels and obtained by AFP.
It added that in the current circumstances, it was "more important than ever to reach a comprehensive Cyprus settlement which would benefit all Cypriots".
Turkish troops occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 and Ankara has made clear repeatedly it will not accept Cypriot government development of offshore energy resources until the division of the island is resolved.
Cyprus earlier this month suspended its participation in U.N.-led peace talks, citing the dispute with Turkey over development of energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades would have met Turkish Cypriot counterpart Dervis Eroglu if the talks had gone ahead.
Anastasiades, 68, arrived in Brussels to attend the EU summit but was briefly hospitalized with high blood pressure early Thursday.
Advised to rest, he asked Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to represent him at the meeting, the Cypriot government said.
In response to Ankara's action, Cyprus has also made clear it will block any new talks with Turkey on its EU membership bid.
Source: Agence France Presse
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