Cavusoglu | Israel should annul its agreement with the Republic of Cyprus

Defence Redefined

Published on 19/06/2020 at 11:10

Israel should annul its agreement with the Republic of Cyprus if it wants to sign an agreement with Turkey similar to that of Turkey with Libya, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, claiming that Israel has ceded some maritime areas to Cyprus.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said that only if the Israel-Cyprus agreement is annulled could the Turkish continental shelf be merged with that of Libya. He also said that in order for Israeli natural gas to go on the international market, the pipeline must pass through Turkey or the Turkish continental shelf.

In particular, in an interview to the Turkish channel CNNTurk, the Turkish minister said that the “Greek-Cypriot side proceeded with the delimitation of zones based on the agreement it made with Israel”, claiming that there is a Turkish continental shelf in that area.

In other words, he said, “In order for Israel to sign an agreement with us, similar to the one we signed with Libya, it must annul the agreement it signed with the ‘Greek-Cypriot administration’,” as he referred to the Republic of Cyprus.

“And it must not accept that it has ceded that area to the Greek-Cypriot side. Only then will our continental shelf join Libya,” he said. “If this (agreement) is annulled, we will discuss with everyone in the direction of our economic interests, and we will sign an agreement if it benefits us. In order for Israel’s natural wealth to go on the international market, it will have to go through Turkey or the continental shelf of Turkey.” He also repeated the Turkish position that “we can cooperate with everyone on this issue (of the eastern Meditterranean) apart from the Greek-Cypriot side.”

Also read: US message to Ankara | The islands have EEZs and continental shelf

Referring to the Greek-Turkish issue, Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted that not all Greek islands have a continental shelf. “Greece says the islands have a continental shelf. We say that not every island has a continental shelf. Especially the islands that are far from the mainland and close to another country cannot have a continental shelf. Greece now claims that a 10-kilometer island, Kastelorizo, opposite Kas (Turkey), has a maritime zone of ​​40 square kilometers. Now, they are trying to leave this red area to us (points to the map). They showed something like the Map of Seville. But, while we have been saying until today that this is not possible, Greece had these dreams. Now, Kastelorizo ​​is located 2 km away from us. It can be seen here. It is 570 km away from Greece. That is, this has a continental shelf and will restrict us at sea. That is not possible,” he said.

Also read: The agreement on the demarcation of maritime zones with Italy is signed

The Turkish Foreign Minister said that Turkey, by making plans for it, gave the Greek islands 6 nautical miles of territorial waters. “And that’s the right thing to do. That is, here the islands have territorial waters but cannot have a continental shelf. It is against international law,” he said.

For Libya, the Turkish minister claimed that General Haftar is no longer in power. “A coup plotter like Haftar, someone who claims to have seized the power, instead of a cease-fire, should not have a seat at the table. He should not be dealt with any longer,” he said. Mevlut Cavusoglu said that they had gone to show their strong support for Libya during the Turkish delegation’s visit, led by him and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak. He recalled that they had also signed an agreement with Libya on maritime jurisdiction and discussed how they could share this wealth. They also discussed how Turkish companies could return to stabilized Libyan areas.

The Turkish minister also said that the planned visit of his Italian counterpart to Ankara last Wednesday was canceled precisely because they travelled to Libya. He informed the Italian Foreign Minister about the postponement on Tuesday night and it was agreed that the visit would finally take place today. As he said today, his Italian counterpart will discuss the Libyan issue, arguing that Italy does not think differently from Turkey on this issue.

Melvut Cavusoglu also spoke about the Russian delegation’s visit, led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which had been postponed for the next few days. He said that during the telephone conversation he had twice with his Russian counterpart about the postponement of the visit, they agreed to maintain a distance between the delegations of the two sides and after that Sergey Lavrov could visit Turkey.

Mevlut Cavusoglu referred again to the agreement between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump regarding the technical cooperation of the two countries’ delegations for Libya. “At the moment, there are talks at a technical level. In the near future, we want them to be done at the level of Ministers as well,” he stated.

Also read: Ambassador of Greece | The determination of the EEZ, the Cyprus issue and the possibility of a serious security incident | VIDEO

Source: CNA