Turkey slams Exxon Mobil's exploration in eastern Med

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey warned on Sunday that drilling by a U.S. oil company in the eastern Mediterranean is not conducive to regional stability.

Exxon Mobil’s activities near southern Cyprus risk upsetting certain sensitive balances concerning resolution of the dispute on the island and its surrounding area, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy in a statement.

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, while asserting that the Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area.

Reaffirming Turkey’s warning to firms taking part in the Greek side’s unilateral drilling activities, Aksoy added that Turkey would continue exploration in its own continental shelf as well as areas licensed by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

The status of the island remains unresolved in spite of a series of discussions that resumed in May 2015.