The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey strongly reacted to the approval by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus of the Maritime Spatial Plan.

In his statement, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ontzou Ketseli, said that the Cyprus Plan for the maritime areas violates the rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

He insisted on the Turkish boundaries of the continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying that Turkey has submitted to the UN the external boundaries since 2004, and emphasized that Ankara is not going to accept Nicosia’s positions regarding the areas of maritime jurisdiction.

According to SKAI’s correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidis, Ontzou Ketseli said:

“The areas defined in the “Marine Area Planning”, which is essentially based on a European Union directive and is being prepared by all member states, violate the rights of Turkey and the TRNC. As you may know, our country has recorded the borders of the Turkish continental shelf in the Mediterranean at the United Nations since 2004 and most recently in 2020.

From the beginning it was stated that unilateral acts of the “Greek Cypriot Administration of South Cyprus” (s.s. Republic of Cyprus) regarding areas of maritime jurisdiction will not be accepted and our country’s practices in the field continue in this context. This time, the Greek Cypriot side’s attempt to take advantage of the European Union’s Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning is considered the last link in the futile efforts.

Turkey has legal rights and responsibilities in the west of the island of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriots have legal rights to the areas around the island. The illegal initiatives of the Greek Cypriot administration, which are ambitious, disconnected from reality and have no force, harm the efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and sustainable solution of the Cypriot problem.

Turkey’s expectations from third parties, including the European Union, have not changed. The negative influences of maritime jurisdiction issues and related issues on the Cyprus resolution process should not be ignored. We expect the Greek Cypriot side to be encouraged to develop cooperation with the “TRNC”, accepting that the Cypriot solution can only be possible based on the facts on the island, instead of trying to create a fait accompli in the region”