Turkish positions against the Law of the Sea
Statement by Toumazos Tsielepis, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL and Head of the Bureau on the Cyprus Problem of the C.C.
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 13th May 2016, Nicosia
The letter of the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the UN Secretary-General which challenges the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus is not something new, but a repetition of its well-known long-standing claim.
AKEL stresses yet again that Turkey’s position on this specific matter is contrary to both the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as customary International Law. The exercise of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus was never a subject of the talks and cannot be suspended in anticipation of the solution of our political problem.
The Christofias – Talat convergences on the maritime zones, the natural resources and the allocation of the federal revenues address comprehensively the issue of the natural gas in the event of a solution of the Cyprus problem. These convergences represented a protective shield that enabled the realization of two rounds of licensing and drilling.
There is of course the issue of the delimitation of the EEZ with Turkey. This pending issue must be addressed after the solution of the Cyprus problem, which will permanently and irrevocably ensure the unhindered exploitation of the natural gas primarily for the benefit of our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, but also of Turkey and the European Union itself.
