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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Turkey threatens to send warships against Cyprus


Turkey may send in their navy to protect what they view as their mineral rights.


Turkey will provide naval escorts for its own oil and gas exploration vessels


Welcome to the future.  The nations pf the world throwing their weight and military around to lay claim to oil, gas and mineral rights.

Noble Energy Corp. this week began drilling work on an exploration well in the Mediterranean south of Cyprus under an agreement with the government that controls the southern side of the divided island, despite protests from Turkey, according to reports on Tuesday.

Noble Energy Corp. has moved a rig to Cyprus waters not far from its Leviathan discovery off the coast of Israel, the largest exploration success in the Houston firm’s history with an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of reserves, says Market Watch.

Cyprus has been politically divided since 1974, with the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government in the south, and a Turkish Cypriot administration in the north.

Cyprus deputy government spokesman Christos Christofides told the Associated Press that rounds of exploratory drilling will likely last for months and may provide more information about the size of the deposit. Efforts are now focused on an area 115 miles south of Cyprus. 
Is war in the future over 16 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas reserves.


Turkey to take action?

Turkey has vowed to send warships to protect its claims off its side of the Cyprus coast, and has said that any mineral riches found should be divided, according to reports.

Cyprus raised the stakes in a dispute with Turkey over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday when it announced it had started to drill for gas offshore.

Turkey said this week that it would provide naval escorts for its own oil and gas exploration vessels in the region unless the Greek Cypriot government gave up its drilling plans.

The dispute over what are thought to be major energy reserves beneath the waters of the eastern Mediterranean has also further strained Turkey's relations with Israel, which lays claims to a big gas field in the area, at a time when Ankara is seeking to expand its influence in the Middle East.

Turkey has also questioned the jurisdiction of a maritime boundary agreed between Cyprus and Israel in a area rich in hydrocarbon deposits.

By going ahead with drilling, Cyprus ignored warnings from Turkey that the move could derail peace talks on the future of the ethnically divided island.

Cyprus and Turkey have been at loggerheads over a conflict which has kept the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities estranged for decades. But the drilling controversy has added a new and potentially explosive element into a row which has defied mediation.

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