Ankara issued a Navtex directive to shipping in Republic of Cyprus jurisdiction waters, with Nicosia responding with an anti-Navtex, declaring Turkish activity in the area as illegal.
Turkey said ‘Bilim 2’ was going to be conducting scientific research in a number of areas off the Cypriot northern shores, starting on March 5th through to Friday the 15th.
The Cyprus anti-Navtex points to the Turkish violation of Republic territory, international law and maritime safety procedures.
Commenting on the latest developments, President Christodoulides said this was Republic jurisdiction and Nicosia always responds within this framework.
‘It’s the usual Turkish tactics’, he added, noting that this was definitely not helpful as a factor in efforts for the resumption of settlement negotiations and Cyprus was taking things seriously in this respect, hence the quick response.
