Turkey to send drill ship to contested gas field off Cyprus
by Helena Smith in Nicosia from World news | The Guardian on (#3JTNQ)
President ErdoAan says he will not let natural reserves be exploited by Greek Cypriots
A showdown over natural gas and oil deposits in the seas off Cyprus is set to intensify, with Turkey announcing it is to send a drilling ship to the region days after the US energy company ExxonMobil dispatched its own survey vessels to the area.
As tensions flare over the potential spoils off the coast of the divided island, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip ErdoAan, has declared he will not tolerate the prospect of reserves being exploited by Greek Cypriots at a time when his country is engaged in conflicts elsewhere, not least against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.