The Republic of Cyprus lodged a protest against Turkey’s constant violations of Cyprus’s national sovereignty in a letter sent to the United Nations by Permanent Representative to the UN Kornelios Korneliou.
The letter, dated December 12, 2018, which was released on Monday, December 31 as an official document of the UN General Assembly, denounces the illegal activities of the Turkish research vessel Barbaros.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, the Cypriot Permanent Representative accuses Turkey that on October 18, the state-owned oil drilling vessel “Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa” and supporting vessels accompanied by Turkish warships launched seismic surveys in the southwestern parts of the Cypriot continental shelf, including parts of the plots 4 and 5 designated for research by Cyprus. The area has been illegally restricted for seismic surveys from Turkey via unauthorized NAVTEX 16.10.2018 for a period between October 18, 2018, and 1 February 2019.

In his letter, Mr Korneliou underlines that the Republic of Cyprus had declared an Exclusive Economic Zone in 2004 and has inherent rights to the continental shelf of Cyprus, stressing that the outer boundaries of the two zones are the average line with the opposing nations pending agreement to the contrary. He also notes that, in this context, the Republic of Cyprus has signed agreements on the delimitation of an exclusive economic zone with Egypt, Lebanon, and Israel, on the basis of the average line.