‘Turkish EEZ should be proportional to its coastline’

 

TURKEY’S EXCLUSIVE Economic Zone (EEZ) needs to be proportional to the size of its coastline, a top Turkish general has argued.

In a written response to questions by Turkish NTV news channel on Monday, Turkey’s Chief of General Staff General Necdet Ozel said: “Our country has a land surface of 780,000km² and there is an additional sea territory of 460,000km² called Blue Homeland. 

“About one-third of our Blue Homeland is in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey is one of the countries with the biggest coastline in this sea, I believe that our EEZ should be proportional to the length of our coastline,” said Ozel.

Discussing recent tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, the general said the area is a very important route connecting the Atlantic with the Indian Ocean, which could also be described as an “energy waterway”. 

Lately, it is also being talked about as a basin rich in hydrocarbon deposits. Ozel said this has added to the problems going on for ten years relating to the delineation of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of countries in the region.

The general accused the Cyprus Republic of trying to “sabotage” the ongoing peace talks with the Turkish Cypriots through the start of exploratory drilling in its southern EEZ in Block 12. 

This constitutes a violation of the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots and a unilateral effort to benefit from the natural wealth which belongs equally to Turkish Cypriots, he said.

Turkey has reportedly sent out three seismic research vessels to the waters in and around Cyprus’ EEZ since exploratory drilling began.

The Turkish-owned Piri Reis is operating south of the island, near Block 12, while the French-owned Bergen Surveyor and Oceanic Challenger are believed to be situated west of the island. 

 

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.