Cyprus has told the United Nations that Turkish seabed surveys for a planned natural gas pipeline between Turkey and the occupied north violate its sovereignty, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General dated 21 October.
A permanent undersea energy link would be a further attempt to create irreversible faits accomplis affecting Cyprus’s territory and maritime zones, and would further entrench the integration of the occupied areas into Turkey, the letter warns.
The letter, from Cyprus’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Maria Michael, says that on 30 September Turkey issued an unauthorised navigational warning for scientific research and underwater operations by the Turkish-flagged research vessels Oruc Reis, Denar Pathfinder, Denar Echo and Kirici from 1 to 25 October. The activities were still under way when it was written.
The operations were being carried out in the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Republic of Cyprus without its permission or consent, Nicosia says. It describes them as a further step towards building the pipeline and says they violate Cyprus’s sovereignty, rights and jurisdiction under international law as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Surveying or laying a pipeline in Cyprus’s territorial sea without its permission violates its sovereignty, and as no permission has been sought or granted, Turkey has no legal basis for doing so, the letter argues. In the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, it says, Turkey is in direct breach of its obligation under the convention to respect Cyprus’s rights and jurisdiction as a coastal state over natural resources and the marine environment.
The letter follows one of 7 August on the ‘memorandum of understanding’ signed on 10 July between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side, which Cyprus describes as illegal.
Reiterating that the Republic of Cyprus is the only internationally recognised state on the island, the letter calls on Turkey to respect its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and says any steps towards implementing the memorandum, including preparatory or related activities, are illegal and must stop immediately. Cyprus is determined to keep defending its rights in good faith and in line with international law, using all peaceful means at its disposal, it adds.
The letter asks for it and its annex to be circulated as a General Assembly document under agenda items 39 and 74, and published on the website of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea and in the next Law of the Sea Bulletin.
(Information from Cyprus News Agency)
