Turkish move on Cyprus oil

Cyprus has said it is willing to share the benefits of any gas find off its coast withTurkish Cypriots before a peace deal is reached on the divided Mediterranean island.

Turkey announced yesterday it was sending its own research vessel to the area today in an operation it has said could be escorted by its air force and navy, but denied being provocative.

“My message to Turkey and to the Turkish Cypriots is to find a solution as soon as possible,” Cyprus president Demetris Christofias said at the United Nations in New York. “But as president I guarantee that before a solution… that if we have revenue, we will see in which way we can use the revenues for the benefit of the two communities.”

Turkey, which backs a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus, has challenged the right of Cyprus and Israel to drill in an area believed to be the world’s biggest gas find of the past decade. Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the drilling “madness” this week.

Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz said a seismic exploration ship, the Piri Reis, would set off today following an agreement with North Cyprus.

“I can say that we already had a research programme for oil and gas exploration, and we brought it forward,” Mr Yildiz said. “Our actions will never be provocative like the actions of others… In the short term, I do not expect the waters in the Mediterranean to heat up.”

Turkey invaded north Cyprus in 1974 after a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup.