Cyprus’ EEZ

'We remain coordinated with the Republic of Cyprus and our other EU partners and allies regarding the next steps and we support Cyprus on all actions that will follow,' Minister Evangelos Apostolakis said.

It is by now perfectly clear that aside from Cyprus’ EEZ Turkey is mulling a grab in the EEZ of Kastellorizo, as it does not recognise that the small Greek island has an EEZ.

There is very little the EU, which lacks a Union army, can do in the situation except perhaps for imposing some kind of economic sanctions.

The Senate bill is part of a comprehensive strategy in the region that relies in great measure on the Greece-Cyprus-Israel energy and security cooperation while at the same time drawing distinct red lines for Turkey’s actions.

It is unclear which part of Turkey’s Exclusive Economic Zone the minister was referring to as all drilling so far has occurred in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus.

Ankara has for over four decades, and especially since the 1996 Imia crisis, attempted to drag Athens into a no-holds-barred negotiation.

With persistence and consistency and in the face of continual Turkish provocations the Republic of Cyprus insisted on its effort to explore its natural resources and today it has been vindicated.

'This is the biggest find so far in Cyprus and based on some official data it is one of the biggest finds worldwide in the past two years,' Cypriot Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said.

The manoeuvres have been touted as Turkey’s biggest ever, covering a terrain including the Aegean, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea.

Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, underlined yesterday that Ankara will not tolerate de facto situations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean.

The greatest problem in bilateral relation are Ankara’s persistent claims against Greek sovereign rights in the Aegean and its efforts to hinder Cyprus' gas-drilling programme.

'Turkey is exhibiting its decisiveness as regards protection of her rights in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, both on the political level and in the field of action.'

The element of “political equality” between the two communities has long been in the vocabulary of the UN in its countless settlement efforts, but it has taken on a new meaning now that rich offshore gas and oil deposits have been detected in Cyprus’ EEZ.

What had occurred was a joint US-France exercise, to which Turkey was alerted by Nato systems, and Ankara hastened to tie up the adjacent area for a Turkish exercise.

The Greek warship has remained within the limits of Greece’s continental shelf and is shadowing the Barbaros in a signal that Greece has the necessary deterrent force.

At the meeting, there were indications of a gradual normalisation of the two countries’ relations, as Erdogan invited Tsipras to Istanbul for talks.

The Turkish energy minister said that in the coming months the exploration ship Fatih will start the first drilling in the Mediterranean.

The two leaders are discussing the three-way and four-way regional cooperation schemes that have been established by their foreign ministers