Turkey’s deployment of drill ships escorted by Turkish navy frigates to the Eastern Mediterranean has escalated tensions with Athens and the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Cyprus, and prompted sharp rebukes from Washington and the European Union.
The EU has threatened to impose sanctions on Ankara unless it pulls out the ships. It is set to weigh such action during an EU summit that is due to be held in December. Erdogan’s comments suggest he doesn’t take the threats seriously, and history has borne him out so far.
Erdogan, who traveled to Northern Cyprus with his informal coalition partner, far-right leader Devlet Bahceli, added that Turkey would continue drilling in contested waters around Cyprus and the Greek islands “until a fair settlement” was reached. Turkey’s president has been greeted with protests from Turkish Cypriots denouncing Ankara’s overt meddling in their domestic affairs.
Erdogan insisted on a two-state solution for the Mediterranean island, one of the states will be the Republic of Cyprus run by the Greek Cypriots; the other will be the Republic of Turkey, on the basis of sovereign equality because there are two separate peoples and states on the island.
The UN-facilitated talks to unify the island have made no headway. The EU’s decision to admit Cyprus in 2004 in the absence of a settlement, despite Erdogan’s push for one at the time, has made things harder and left the island’s native Turkish population ever more dependent on Turkey.
The Turkish President ’s call for a two-state solution for the divided island of Cyprus and vow for Turkey to continue drilling for hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean has sparked fresh controversy and poured cold water over excited chatter of a reset in Ankara’s relations with the West.
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