Turkish oil company to start drilling in north Cyprus site

Turkey's state-run oil company is set to start drilling for oil and gas in north Cyprus site under an agreement signed last year.

Turkey's state-run oil company is set to start drilling for oil and gas in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under an agreement signed last year in September.

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation, or TPAO, will start drilling on Thursday at a field in Gazimagusa's Sinirustu village with a ceremony which will be participated by Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz as well as Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu and Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk.

TPAO has said it planned to drill as deep as 3,000 meters at the well which has been named Turkyurdu-1.

On September 21, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Dervis Eroglu of TRNC signed in New York an agreement on the delineation of the continental shelf between two countries in the East Mediterranean.

Under the agreement, TPAO will be able to make three dimensional seismic research and drilling in TRNC land and sea more actively.

The agreement follows a Greek Cypriot move to start offshore drilling for natural gas and oil in the southeast of the Eastern Mediterranean island.

On September 22, TRNC Council of Ministers gave exploration license to TPAO, Turkish Petroleum Corp., to explore oil and natural gas around Cyprus island.

TRNC President Eroglu met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on September 24, and proposed to suspend oil and natural gas exploration until a comprehensive solution was found to Cyprus question or if Greek Cypriot administration insisted on oil exploration, then a committee shall be set up by the two sides in the island, and it shall decide how to share the richness that could be found after the explorations. However, Greek Cypriot side did not give a positive response. Thus, TPAO, by Piri Reis vessel, began geophysical research and seismic data collecting studies on behalf of TRNC on September 26.

In 2010, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate a search for mineral deposits in the East Mediterranean.

The Greek Cypriot side had signed a deal with U.S.-based Noble Energy to start drilling in an 324,000-hectare economic zone adjacent to the Israeli waters. (AA)

Historical mosque torched in Greek Cyprus

A historical mosque in the Greek Cypriot city of Limasol was torched by unknown assailants on April 13, CNNTürk reported today.

The Turkish Cypriot Religious Directorate's designated official responsible for Greek Cyprus, Şakir Alemdar, reportedly said they were notified of the incident late because of Easter celebrations on the Greek side of the island.

The roof of the Köprülü Hacı İbrahim Ağa Mosque was on the verge of collapse after the assailants poured gasoline and set the building on fire. The mosque's door, wooden porch and one of its windows was burned, while the carpets inside were blackened by the soot from the fire. An epitaph from the Ottoman era fell on the ground and broke, Alemdar said.

Alemdar said the mosque, which was open to worship, was also attacked 15 days previously.

Greek Cypriot police have not detained anyone in relation to the attack and reportedly said it was "the work of some young people." (hurriyetdailynews)