Reports of leaders’ deal on drilling delay ‘ridiculous’

Turkish Cypriot press reports that President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have pledged a moratorium of hydrocarbons-related activity until July 31st are not only false but verge on the ridiculous, deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said on Wednesday.

He was referring to a report by Turkish daily Milliyet, which cited unnamed sources claiming that the two sides pledged to UN special envoy Espen Barth Eide to refrain from any moves regarding Cyprus’ natural gas until end July.

Until then, the paper said, Anastasiades committed to not starting a new exploratory drill until then, while the Turkish Cypriot leader promised that the seismographic vessel Barbaros will not enter the blocks licensed by the Republic of Cyprus for exploratory drilling.

Akinci, the report said, broached the issue at the negotiating table, warning Anastasiades that “the Greek Cypriot side’s activity in the Eastern Mediterranean will cause tension”, at which point Eide’s intervention triggered the deal.

“Claims by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet of a supposed deal, mediated by the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus, to delay Total’s drilling schedule by 12 days in July, in exchange, no less, for the Barbaros not illegally entering the Cypriot exclusive economic zone are not only false, they verge on the ridiculous,” Papadopoulos said in a statement.

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.