Turkey warns companies against Greek Cypriot oil exploration tenderMay 19, 2012 - 10:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey warned 15 companies, which submitted bids in a fresh Greek Cypriot tender for oil exploration in disputed areas of the Mediterranean, to withdraw from the project, Hurriyet Daily News reported. “The companies which cooperate with GKRY [the Greek Cypriot administration] will not be included in energy projects in Turkey in the future,” a Foreign Ministry statement said. Turkey’s warning came after Greek Cyprus announced that 29 companies had made 15 bids for exploratory drilling in a second round of licensing to exploit offshore oil and gas deposits despite strong objections from Turkey. Russia’s Novatec, Italy’s ENI, France’s Total and Malaysia’s Petronas, ATP of the U.S., Canada’s Petra Petroleum, Israel’s Delek and Britain’s Vitol are among 15 firms and consortiums seeking a license to carry out exploratory drilling off Cyprus Island. The statement said the exploration was “an abuse of the rights of Turkish Cypriots to the same resources.” Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |