Yavuz

Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou has welcomed calls by the US State Department late Monday for Turkey's Yavuz drillship to cease its activities off Cyprus' northeastern coast and its removal from the island's territorial waters.

The US State Department on Tuesday called on Turkish authorities to cease immediately any "unlawful activities" in Cyprus' territorial sea and remove its drillship, Yavuz.
Turkey has already established a presence in the region with its Yavuz and Fatih drillships and the Barbaros research vessel.

Ankara is sticking to its tough rhetoric on Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, with regard to energy, the possibility of resuming talks on the Cyprus issue, and Turkey's so-called rights in the region.

Ahead of Friday's crucial meeting between Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, Turkey's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez has announced that a second exploration vessel will be dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of August.

Turkish drillship "Yavuz" has begun operating off the coast of Cyprus, just south of the Karpasia (Kaspas) peninsula and will remain there for three weeks, Cypriot media reported Tuesday, citing an article in Turkey's pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah.

Completing ignoring EU warnings and sanctions and repeated US warnings, Turkish Defence Minister Fatih Donmez announced that Ankara's ultra-modern drilling ship Fatih has reached a depth of 5,000 metres in drilling to the west of Cyprus and that a second drilling ship, the Yavuz, will begin drilling in a few days off the coast of the Turkish-occupied Karpas peninsula, the north-easternmost tip

By George Gilson

Straight on the heels of a US State Department statement of concern, the Greek foreign ministry has condemned Ankara's fresh attempt to drill in the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus, off the Turkish-occupied Karpas Peninsula.

European Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday threatened Turkey with sanctions if it does not stop its drilling activities in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The United States has said that Turkey's most recent dispatch of the drillship Yavuz to conduct drilling operations off the Karpas Peninsula of Cyprus is a "provocative step" and has urged Turkish authorities to halt these operations, Cyprus Mail reported.

Turkey's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it rejected statements by Greek and European Union officials that Turkish drilling for gas and oil off Cyprus was illegitimate and said the EU could not be an impartial mediator on the Cyprus problem.