- Home
- World
- News
- UN Not to Engage in Cyprus-Turkey Raw Over Hydrocarbons Leaving It to Courts- Mission Head
UN Not To Engage In Cyprus-Turkey Raw Over Hydrocarbons Leaving It To Courts- Mission Head
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published December 07, 2019 | 06:28 PM
The United Nations is not going to engage in the settlement of the deepening dispute between Cyprus and Turkey over the exploration of the offshore mineral resources and leaves it to courts to solve, UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Cyprus and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar told Sputnik
On Thursday, Cyprus petitioned the International Court of Justice at The Hague in order to safeguard its offshore mineral rights amid Turkey's oil exploration drilling in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone.
"We believe that the best way to resolve outstanding issues around hydrocarbons is to reach a comprehensive settlement on Cyprus. We leave this now to the courts and we also leave it to others, it's not up to the Secretary-General or his missions to engage," Spehar said on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogues forum in Rome.
Since hydrocarbon fields were discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean, including those in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, their development plans have led to tensions between the countries. Ankara believes that Turkish Cypriots have the right to these natural resources and have sent drilling rigs and naval ships to the region.
On Wednesday, Turkey announced its plans to conduct further oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It came a week after it signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord last week. Under the agreement, Ankara gets access to a zone between Turkey and Libya in the Mediterranean that Greece and Cyprus claim as theirs. Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and the parliament based in eastern Libya have each voiced their objection to the agreement.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
NFL will allow players to wear Guardian Cap helmets in games
4 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga table
4 hours ago -
Football: Italian Serie A result
4 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga results
4 hours ago -
US troops to leave Chad in second African state withdrawal
4 hours ago -
Plastics pollution may be solved without production cap: Canada minister
4 hours ago
-
Biden stalls on menthol cigarette ban fearing Black vote backlash
4 hours ago -
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
4 hours ago -
6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost
5 hours ago -
Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude
5 hours ago -
'Ballistic' Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase
5 hours ago -
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 2nd update
5 hours ago