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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Cyprus Tuesday against any "reckless act", while Nicosia is determined to explore gas fields despite Ankara's energetic opposition.
"The reckless actions of Greece and the Cypriot-Greek administration, which are supported by some European countries, have become a source of threat and danger, starting on their own," Erdogan said. a speech in Ankara.
In an allusion to the European countries he accuses of supporting Cyprus in his energy ambitions, Erdogan has blasted "those who tremble like dead leaves before the influx of migrants and turn into lions as soon as he it's about oil or gas ".
These virulent declarations come as the Cypriot government announced on Monday that the French energy giants Total and Italian Eni had jointly responded to a call for tenders to explore and exploit gas and oil off the island.
The discovery in recent years of gigantic gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean has whetted the appetite of Cyprus, which dreams of eventually becoming a major energy player.
The Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union and exercising its authority only over the southern two-thirds of the island, has signed in recent years exploration contracts with hydrocarbon giants such as Eni, Total or the United States. American ExxonMobil.
But Ankara, whose troops invaded the northern third of the island in 1974 in response to a coup to link the island to Greece, calls for the suspension of all exploration, as long as a solution to the division Cyprus is not found.
Turkey opposes any exploitation of these gas resources that would exclude the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized by the international community.
In early November, Erdogan called foreign oil majors "pirates" trying to explore the offshore oil fields off Cyprus.
In February, a ship chartered by ENI for exploratory drilling had to turn back after being blocked by Turkish warships.
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