Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says his country is determined to protect Turkish Cypriots' rights to gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
Erdoğan spoke Friday days after Cyprus renegotiated a contract with a consortium made up of Shell, Texas-Based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek that paves the way for the exploitation of an offshore field that is estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Turkey says such agreements breach the rights of breakaway Turkish Cypriots to potential hydrocarbon deposits and is conducting its own exploratory drilling around the island.
Erdoğan said: "Our kinsmen in northern Cyprus have rights according to international law in the same way that (Greek Cypriots) have rights. We will not allow these rights to be usurped by those who have no business (there)."
"We are dedicated to protect our Turkish kin in Northern Cyprus especially in the regions exclusively related to economy. So our newly-purchased oil drill and exploration ships are in the region […] They are protected by frigates of Turkish Armed Forces."
In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus' annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded.
The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the dispute, all ending in failure. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. -- ended in 2017 in Switzerland.
Turkey's first seismic vessel, the Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa, bought from Norway in 2013, has been doing exploration in the Mediterranean since April 2017.
