Turkey’s energy minister flown aboard Barbaros

Turkey’s energy minister Berat Albayrak has been flown aboard the Turkish seismic survey vessel Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa, according to reports in the Turkish Cypriot media.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi reported that Albayrak – who also happens to be the son-in-law of Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan – paid a surprise visit to the north.

After landing at Tymbou (Ercan) airport, Albayrak is said to have boarded a military chopper and was flown aboard the Barbaros.

The report did not mention the ship’s location at the time of the visit.

Online tracking apps indicated the Barbaros was off the bay of Famagusta late on Thursday afternoon.

The Barbaros is currently conducting seismic surveys to the east off the island, off Famagusta.

The notice reserving the area for surveys expires on June 30 – just days before Total and ENI are scheduled to start exploratory drilling for gas in block 11 south of Cyprus.

To carry out any economic activity, Turkey must ask permission from the jurisdictional coastal state (Cyprus), which it has not.

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.