{"id":55096,"date":"2019-12-17T09:55:10","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T01:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=55096"},"modified":"2019-12-17T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T01:56:01","slug":"turkish-drone-fuels-tension-over-cyprus-gas-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=55096","title":{"rendered":"Turkish drone fuels tension over Cyprus gas claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Bayraktar TB2 armed drone is now at Gecitkale airbase in Famagusta
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 NICOSIA, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — <\/strong>A Turkish military drone has arrived at a base in Turkish-backed northern Cyprus to help controversial gas exploration projects near the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Turkish military official said the drone would escort its drilling ships. There are two – the Fatih and Yavuz – in the area, despite strong criticism from Cyprus and its EU partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey alone recognises the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republic of Cyprus, Greece and Israel are also exploring for gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July a new “East Mediterranean Gas Forum” (EMGF) was launched by those three countries, plus Egypt, Jordan, Italy and the Palestinian Authority. However, Turkey was excluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eastern Mediterranean is reckoned to be rich in natural gas: the US Geological Survey estimates the deposits to run into trillions of cubic metres, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, besides millions of barrels of oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Turkey and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya signed an agreement on maritime boundaries in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Memorandum of Understanding aims to protect the rights of both countries against any “illegal” encroachments by other players in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate memorandum, Turkey and the GNA agreed on military co-operation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government was “ready to provide all kinds of support to Libya”. He met GNA leader Fayez al-Sarraj in Istanbul on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GNA is fighting an insurgency by forces under Gen Khalifa Haftar based in eastern Libya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republic of Cyprus argues that Turkey has no right to drill for hydrocarbons off its coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey says its drilling operations are taking place inside its continental shelf, and therefore comply with international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities have been separated by a UN buffer zone since 1974, when Turkey invaded the north of the island in response to a military coup in Cyprus backed by Greece. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bayraktar TB2 armed drone is now at Gecitkale airbase in Famagusta  NICOSIA, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Turkish military drone has arrived at a base in Turkish-backed northern Cyprus to help controversial gas exploration projects near the island. A Turkish military official said the drone would escort its drilling ships. There are two – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213,209,217],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55096"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}