https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/turkey-protects-disputed-mediterranean-oil-and-gas-drilling-with-armed-drones-jgmtknw9f
Turkey protects disputed Mediterranean oil and gas drilling with armed drones
Armed Turkish drones will be launched from northern Cyprus today to assist Ankara’s drill ships surveying the eastern
Mediterranean for oil and gas, it was announced yesterday...... It remains unclear how many unmanned aerial vehicles will be mobilised from Cyprus in the operation, according to the Turkish news agency Demiroren.
The move may further aggravate Ankara’s already tense relations with the European Union and its neighbours over energy resources in the Mediterranean.
In a statement issued at the weekend, the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that his cabinet had authorised use of the Gecitkale airbase in line with Ankara’s decision to expand its drilling operations in the region. The statement added that the drones would “protect the legitimate rights” of Turkey and northern Cyprus, a breakaway state that only Ankara recognises.
Turkey began seeking oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus this year, dispatching two drill ships and an exploration vessel to the contested region. A recently agreed deal with
Libya to section off part of the eastern Mediterranean, cutting through waters recognised as the sovereign territory of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, has served to ratchet up tension in the area.
Angered by the deal, Athens expelled the Libyan ambassador last week. It also rallied its EU partners in condemning the maritime accord as “illicit”........
Greece and Turkey, which are Nato allies, have long been at loggerheads over air, sea and territorial rights, coming to the brink of war in 1996 over a barren islet in the Aegean Sea. Greece has on three occasions intercepted ships supplying weapons to the government in Tripoli.
In a recent interview, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the Greek defence minister, said that if it came to a fight with Turkey “we shall not wait for anyone to come and help us. Whatever we do, we shall do alone.”