Nicosia, Cyprus
The European Union will help Cyprus try to negotiate its maritime border with neighboring Turkey in order to end an ongoing wrangle that has raised tensions in the east Mediterranean, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday. Borrell said the the 27-member bloc supports Cyprus’ call on Turkey to negotiate a maritime border agreement and will assist these efforts with the aim of buttressing regional stability. “We welcome the invitation by the government of Cyprus to Turkey to negotiate in good faith the maritime delimitation between their relevant coasts,” Borrell said after talks with Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides. “And on that, we will be also engaging because regional stability is a priority of the European Union.” Turkey doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a state and has sent warship-escorted ships to drill for gas in waters where the ethnically split island nation has exclusive economic rights. Turkey claims nearly half of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone and says it’s acting to protect its rights and those of Turkish Cypriots in the island’s breakaway north.
