Ergun Olgun, the Turkish Cypriot negotiator on the issue of Cyprus’ natural gas exploration said that a peace settlement will not be achieved, unless the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus participates in the exploration and exploitation, according to Reuters. “We are approaching a turning point. The Greek Cypriots need to decide whether they want to share power or whether they want to go it alone with their resources….Hydrocarbons is a common issue. It can’t be decoupled from the negotiations,” Olgun told Reuters. Since 2011, when natural gas and hydrocarbons were discovered off coast, Cyprus has licensed exploration sites to energy companies such as ENI (Italy), Total (France) and Noble Energy (U.S.A.). Last month, Turkey sent an exploration vessel in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, creating uproar in the eastern Mediterranean and forcing Cyprus to speak of provocation and undermining and suspend peace talks. Olgun said that exploration should stop and that the two sides decide how to manage the explorations and share the profits. “The offer is to work together. If they refuse our offer we are going to exercise our rights on our property. It could lead to a situation where we could start talking about a velvet divorce between the two sides,” he said. The Greek Cypriot side — essentially the internationally recognized Cypriot government — refuses to back down on the issue since the island’s economy needs the natural gas exploration revenues. Cyprus faced a serious financial crisis and was forced to enter a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout program in early 2013.
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