The second Turkish drillship, Yavuz, which is expected to begin drilling for oil and natural gas near Cyprus this week, arrived off the island’s northeastern coast on Monday.
IT STARTED DRILLING ACTIVITIES
Last month, EU had issued a warning Turkey “to end” its gas drilling in disputed waters around the island or “face action from the bloc”, after Greece and Greek Cyprus pressed other EU states to speak out.
Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez, regarding EU’s insolent offer, had said that Yavuz would start drilling within a week.
Yavuz had been at the southern Turkish port of Mersin doing final tests and taking on supplies before departing for Cyprus on Sunday. The shipping data showed that it arrived off the coast of the Karpas peninsula overnight.
Turkey already has a drilling ship, Fatih, off the west coast of Cyprus.