Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that the solution to the Eastern Mediterranean issue actually depends on the fair distribution of revenues in Cyprus.

He added that the issue had been raised with the United Nations and the European Union but that the Greek Cypriot side and Greece, encouraged by the EU were trying to usurp the rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus instead of working on fair distribution.

Referring to the announcements of the ENI-TOTAL consortium about the discovery of natural gas off the coast of Cyprus, the Turkish foreign minister told the Turkish network Haber Global that “indeed our continental shelf extends to these blocks, but the point where drilling is taking place is further south than the southern limit of our continental shelf. Already we do not allow them to enter our continental shelf”.

“As a result the southern and western limits of our continental shelf are obvious. To the west, we left the Greek islands and territorial waters by 6 miles. We operate in accordance with international law. And within our continental shelf we continue the drilling and seismic surveys” he added.

Çavuşoğlu also complained that the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo, emboldened by the EU, was trying to usurp the rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus instead of working on fair distribution.

“As I said, the solution of the Eastern Mediterranean issue actually depends on the sharing of revenues,” he said.