Turkey to begin oil, gas drilling off Cyprus ‘in coming days’ – FM Cavusoglu
Turkey will begin drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus in the coming days, state-owned news agency Anadolu quoted Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying on Thursday. The move could stoke tensions with neighboring Cyprus and Greece. “In the coming days we will start drilling with two ships around Cyprus,” Cavusoglu said in a speech to a business conference in western Turkey’s Aydin province. “Let those who come to the region from far away, and their companies, see that nothing can be done in that region without us. Nothing at all can be done in the Mediterranean without Turkey, we will not allow that,” Cavusoglu said. Ankara launched its first drillship ‘Fatih’ in October to drill off the coast of Turkey’s southern Antalya province, Reuters reported.