Guardian: Oil and gas reserves around Cyprus give Greece and Turkey more to fight about

Tensions have risen in the eastern Mediterranean due to a war of words between Athens, Ankara and Nicosia over oil and gas reserves in the region.

Wrangling over hydrocarbons to be found in the area’s waters, has intensified after the leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt signed an agreement in Cairo on Saturday to boost energy cooperation.

Within minutes of the accord being announced Cyprus’s president, Nicos Anastasiades, accused Turkey of “provocative actions” for sending a surveillance vessel and war ships to search for natural resources in the island’s exclusive economic zone.

“Turkey’s provocative actions do not just compromise the peace talks,” he said, referring to UN-brokered negotiations about reunifying the island which were suspended by his government last month. “[They] also affect security in the eastern Mediterranean region.”
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