Navy Times by Menelaos Hadjicostis 2/9/2020
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus won’t put its exploratory gas drilling plans on hold despite Turkey’s attempt to force the east Mediterranean island nation to halt its activities by conducting its own gas search in Cypriot waters, the president of Cyprus said Sunday.
President Nicos Anastasiades said pausing drilling in the face of Turkish pressure would be tantamount to Cyprus abrogating its sovereign rights.
Anastasiades said he was ready to engage with Turkey on charting a course to a deal that would reunify Cyprus, which has been divided into ethnically Greek and Turkish areas since the 1970s.
But that won’t happen if Turkey sets preconditions such as the suspension of offshore drilling for such peace talks to take place, he said.
"Disputing sovereign rights or preconditions such as 'I'm violating international law and in return, you must give up your sovereign rights so that we can talk'...that doesn't demonstrate either good will or good faith," said Anastasiades, who is the president of Cyprus' internationally recognized government.
More:
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2020/02/09/despite-turkeys-demands-cyprus-refuses-to-back-down/
