The UK deplores Turkish drilling in the waters around Cyprus and continues to call for de-escalation, a spokesperson of the British High Commission in Nicosia has told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), invited to comment on Turkey’s new attended illegal drilling in the southern EEZ/continental shelf of Cyprus, in exploration block 8.

Commenting on Turkey’s illegal activities with the Yavuz drillship in block 8 of the Cyprus EEZ he noted: “The United Kingdom has been clear from the outset that we condemn Turkish drilling in the waters around Cyprus. We continue to call for de-escalation”.

He added that the United Kingdom has consistently expressed its support “for the sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus to exploit oil and gas in its internationally agreed Exclusive Economic Zone”.

“The most enduring way of resolving difficult issues such as this is to achieve a Cyprus settlement. We encourage all parties to redouble their efforts in pursuit of this.”

Turkey plans to conduct a drilling operation off the south coast of Cyprus, in an area of the island’s exclusive economic zone known as block 8.

The Cyprus government has condemned Turkey’s new illegal drilling within the EEZ and continental shelf of the Republic.