South Cyprus won’t get away with selling the island's energy resources - Turkish Prime Minister

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has warned south Cyprus that it will not be allowed to get away with selling the energy resources surrounding the Cyprus island.

Yıldırım made the remarks on Wednesday at a press conference with TRNC Prime Minister Tufan.

The natural riches surrounding the island of Cyprus is the common wealth of all the people who live on the island. This and other provocative activities that create faits accomplis will be responded to in an appropriate fashion, Yıldırım said.

His remarks were a response to the US energy giant ExxonMobil’s decision to send survey ships to Cyprus to look for hydrocarbons.

Speaking from Ankara on Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim said that any undersea resources surrounding the island should only be extracted with the permission of both of the island’s administrations.

Any work in which one of these interlocutors is not part of the deal will be evaluated by us as a threat to the sovereign rights of North Cyprus.

The international community should rethink its position on the island in order to create a sustainable solution, Yıldırımsaid