According to Demirören News Agency, Turkey announced that it will establish naval and air bases in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, aiming to ensure its security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Specifically, the announcement followed a visit to Northern Cyprus by a team from the Turkish Navy, which held talks with diplomatic and military officials in the north of the island before returning to Ankara.
The two parties agreed that in light of Turkey’s drilling operations in the region, it was important to strengthen its presence, focusing on supplying and guaranteeing the safety of Turkish warships.
In addition, the joint decision by the governments of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus comes amid controversy over the discovery and exploitation of vast natural gas reserves off the shores of the island.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
In the meantime, tensions between Greece, Cyprus and Turkey are rising due to the fact that Turkey announced drilling operations in Ankara, over the territorial waters.
In the early days of June, Cyprus signed a deal with Greece and Israel, according to which the would construct a pipeline harnessing the reserves of natural gas off the south coast. According to estimation, the pipeline is expected to produce $9 billion profit over 18 years, meanwhile supplying gas from the region to other European countries.
