"The Greek Cypriot administration and Israel are engaging in oil exploration madness in the Mediterranean," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Turkish journalists in New York today ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting. He added, "Actually, the Greek Cypriot administration's drilling activity is nothing but sabotage of the negotiation process between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots."
Erdoğan has previously threatened to send Turkish warships into the area if the offshore drilling went ahead. Turkey also supports the Palestinian bid for UN recognition. He said that if the Security Council refuses to recognize the Palestinian state, the motion will come to the UN General Assembly, where states will overwhelmingly vote for recognition. He added that an independent Palestinian state would grant the Palestinians many rights, which seems to disturb Israel and the US.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "We are exerting efforts for turning the east Mediterranean into an area of peace. For this to happen, progress should be made in the Middle East peace process and the Cyprus dispute should be resolved, but this shouldn’t happen through unilateral action."
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) has begun drilling at its Cypriot concession Block 12. Noble Energy is a partner of Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) in the Yam Tethys, Tamar, Leviathan and other fields, and Delek has an option to acquire a stake in Block 12.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 21, 2011
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