Cypriot Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Christodooulidis announced that he wants his country to finalise an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) agreement with Greece, just as Greece did days earlier with Italy.
"Turkey's actions are aimed at serving geostrategic goals and not necessarily energy ones," noted Christodoulidis, speaking at the Economic Forum of Delphi on Wednesday afternoon.
At the same time, Christodoulidis described the presence of Turkish drilling in the Cypriot EEZ as an "unpleasant scenario," adding that the sovereign rights of Cyprus, a member state of the European Union, are being violated.
He noted that for its part, the Republic of Cyprus has reacted to these actions, using all the means at its disposal as an EU country, politically, diplomatically and legally.
"It simply came to our notice then. On the one hand, it aims to strengthen the measures - the European Union has an obligation to respond to it, because both its interests and its credibility are threatened - and on the other hand it seeks to co-operate with Turkey, as it does with all its neighbours, because this co-operation will be able to serve all countries in the region in the long run."
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus also noted that Turkey's actions are not related to the safeguarding of the interests of the Turkish Cypriots, but are part of a broader plan and specific aspirations of the neighbour. According to Christodoulidis, the factors that affect Turkey's external behaviour is the domestic situation.
Finally, when asked if the demarcation of the maritime zones between Cyprus and Greece needs to be implemented, as it was done with Italy, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus stated that "the issue of defining maritime borders between Greece and Cyprus is on the agenda and when necessary, the relevant announcements will be made."
