Just hours after Turkey said it would pause research for oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, Ankara on Tuesday evening issued a new NAVTEX reserving an area inside Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone for oil and gas exploration, according to the Kathimerini daily.
The Barbaros seismic research vessel is set to explore inside Blocks 2,3 and partly 13 of Cyprus’s EEZ.
The NAVTEX, which is the international maritime safety system, concerns a sea area south and southeast of Famagusta and will be valid from Tuesday until September 20.
Turkey announced a pause of the seismic research activities of the Oruç Reis early Tuesday after incurring sanction threats from the European Union.