PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides yesterday kicked off a circle of briefings with party leaders to inform them about natural gas reserves discovered in the southeastern Mediterranean, some of which may lie in Cyprus territorial waters.
Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis last week conceded the government had known about the matter over a year ago, saying he regretted the information had been leaked to the press.
The government is maintaining strict secrecy about the issue, but has confirmed that Rolandis met with officials in Egypt to discuss the matter.
The deposits have been discovered in the sea region between Egypt and Cyprus,
After meeting with Clerides yesterday, DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades said: “It would not be wise to say much about the matter as developments are on the way and the government is looking into it.”
United Democrats President George Vassiliou, who was also briefed by Clerides, said: “I think the less we talk about this, the better. It is too soon to report anything, as nothing is final yet. The more we discuss this, the more confused we will get. When I was President, almost 10 years ago, we received information about gas reserves off Cyprus’ shores. But we were not sure where exactly and whether they would be worth exploiting. It all has to do with the amount of the reserves you know. I am not sure that even now we are in the position to answer these questions.”
The President is expected to meet with KISOS, DIKO and AKEL leaders soon to discuss the situation.
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was yesterday quoted as saying the Turkish Cypriots had an equal right to benefit from any deposits found off Cyprus, and that everything would be done to protect this right.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
