TURKEY STILL OPPOSES OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION OFF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001810 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2018 TAGS: EWWT PBTS ENRG CY TU SUBJECT: TURKEY STILL OPPOSES OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION OFF CYPRUS REF: 07 ANKARA 2206 Classified By: Economic Counselor Dale Eppler for reasons 1.4 b, d. ¶1. (C) We met October 16 with Basat Ozturk, DDG for Aviation and Maritime Affairs at MFA, to discuss Turkey,s position on oil and gas exploration off the coast of Cyprus. Ozturk said Turkey,s position has not changed from last year (reftel), and will not be affected by ongoing talks between the Government of Cyprus (GOC) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The GOC has not only asserted an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),Ozturk said, but also has tried to extend its continental shelf to cover the same territory without reaching a delimitation agreement with Turkey. In Turkey,s view, under both general international law and the Law of the Sea (to which Turkey is not a party), Cyprus was obliged to reach a maritime delimitation agreement with all affected parties, including Turkey, beforehand. It did not even attempt to do so. Thus, Turkey views the Cypriot continental shelf claims as illegal. Without a delimitation agreement in place, Turkey considers all waters more than 12 miles off the coast of Cyprus as "high seas." ¶2. (C) Ozturk said Cyprus signed a maritime delimitation agreement with Egypt and negotiated one with Lebanon. Turkey approached both governments and showed them that under the Turkish proposal for delimitation of the Eastern Mediterranean, they would have significantly larger continental shelves than under the Cypriot plan. In Egypt,s case, the difference is 12,000 square kilometers. As a result of these discussions, Egypt withdrew from its delimitation agreement and the Lebanese have frozen talks with the Cypriots. ¶3. (C) Turkey asserts a continental shelf claim to the west of Cyprus, between 28 degrees east and 32 degrees -- 16 minutes -- 8 seconds east and north of the line at 34 degrees south. This claim overlaps partially with the Cypriot EEZ. Within this zone, Ozturk said, Turkey has a "direct national interest" and will "actively disrupt" any exploration activity. Ozturk said that "active disruption" did not need to be via military force. For example, in the case of seismic work, Ozturk said Turkish fishing vessels might repeatedly circle the ship and thus prevent it from taking accurate readings. Ozturk emphasized that Turkey's national interests in this zone can only be changed by a delimitation agreement with a future united Cyprus, and are outside the scope of the GOC-TRNC talks. ¶4. (C) Beyond its direct interests in this continental shelf claim area, Ozturk said Turkey has "indirect interests" in the seabed delimitation off Cyprus on behalf of the TRNC. Turkey will seek to dissuade companies from doing work in those areas until there is a final Cyprus settlement. Ozturk said Turkey has several times successfully dissuaded companies from bidding on or carrying out exploration in this zone (see reftel) and will continue to do so. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON