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91. Cyprus drilling programme to resume in mid-2021

The Cyprus hydrocarbon exploration programme will resume in the second half of 2021, energy minister Natasa Pilides said Tuesday, noting however that the pandemic has rendered drilling projects “increasingly complex.”...

92. Cavusoglu signals new Cyprus game plan

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for sovereign equality in divided Cyprus, adding that Ankara was ready for dialogue with Athens but also prepared for tension if Greece chose the latter...

93. EU extends ability to impose sanctions on Turkey

The European Council on Friday issued a one-year extension to its framework for sanctions that could be imposed on individuals and entities responsible for Turkey’s controversial gas exploration and drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean....

94. Cyprus leaders agree to disagree

The two leaders from divided Cyprus’ two communities met in the UN buffer zone in Nicosia on Tuesday, following last month’s elections in the north, with both men agreeing in principle to an informal five-party meeting but not without expressing reservations...

95. Bar set low as Brussels, UN in low spirits for CyProb involvement

Foreign players ranging from Brussels and Berlin to New York have lowered their expectations and show a reduced eagerness to actively get involved in efforts to reach a solution to the Cyprus Problem....

96. Greece and Turkey take it down a notch

Greece and Turkey have mutually cancelled military exercises on each other’s national holiday this week, as a gesture of goodwill following a special NATO-sponsored meeting between the two defense ministers...

97. Tatar goes to Ankara with clean slate

Newly-elected Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar is visiting Ankara on Monday, following his first tell-all interview with Turkish media after being sworn into office...

98. Athens bracing for a protracted crisis

Athens is preparing on both a diplomatic and military level for a protracted crisis in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean until at least the end of the year when the European Union’s ultimatum to Turkey expires in December. Other crucial political milestones will be the US elections on November 3 and the void created until the president is sworn in on January 20....

99. Carrot-and-stick approach to Turkey failing, EU envoys say

The European Union's latest strategy to defuse tensions with Turkey is unravelling, two weeks after it was sealed, raising the risk of conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean, diplomats, officials and experts said....

100. Germany slams Turkey for sending survey ship to eastMed

German foreign minister Heiko Maas criticized Turkey for sending a survey vessel back into controversial waters of the eastern Mediterranean, calling the unilateral move a blow to efforts to start negotiations in the conflict....

101. Turkish seismic vessels make waves again

Turkey is once again sending research vessel Oruc Reis to explore for gas south of Greek island Kastellorizo, days after Ankara announced a new NAVTEX for its Barbaros ship in waters off Cyprus...

102. MBA scholarships at CIIM for Oil & Gas Management

103. NATO keeps France-Turkey probe under wraps as tempers flare

A NATO investigation into a naval standoff between French and Turkish ships in June has been rated too sensitive to discuss in public and does not apportion blame, as Paris and Ankara wage a war of words, diplomats have told Reuters....

104. EU foreign affairs chief asks for ‘space to work with Turkish leadership’

The European Commission’s vice president in charge of foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday urged leaders meeting later in month at an emergency European Council summit on Turkey and recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, “to create the urgently needed space to work with the Turkish leadership, to achieve a de-escalation that will allow to pursue lasting solutions to the underlying problems of today’s crisis.”...

105. Pompeo 'deeply concerned' over eastern Med

The United States remains 'deeply concerned' about Turkey's actions in the eastern Mediterranean, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, urging a diplomatic end to a simmering crisis over offshore natural resources...

106. Turkey: Russia to hold live-fire exercises in Mediterranean

Turkey has announced that Russia will hold live-fire naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, amid escalating tensions between Turkey and its coastal neighbors Greece and Cyprus over rights to search for energy resources in the region. ...

107. EU set to sanction Turkey over ships in disputed East Med exploration area

The European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the bloc's next summit on September 24 in response to the Eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday. ...

108. US concerned over east Med tensions

A US top diplomat has criticized Turkey’s policy in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, while voicing concerns that tensions in the region complicate NATO's efforts to present a united front in the face of Russia's destabilizing activities...

109. Greece to extend territorial waters amid dispute with Turkey

Turkey’s president warned Greece on Wednesday not to test his country’s patience or courage as the NATO allies remained locked in a tense dispute over offshore energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, while Greece announced plans to extend its territorial waters along its western coastline....

110. Ankara responds to Greek warnings

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says an attack on Oruc Reis in the eastern Mediterranean would incur a “high price” while at the same time calling for a win-win solution through dialogue...

111. Amid tensions with Turkey, Greece in joint manoeuvres with France

Amid ongoing tensions with Turkey over disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean, the French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces on Thursday off the southern island of Crete, including in the maritime area reserved by Turkey’s Navtex earlier this month for seismic exploration....

112. Turkey says it will license new Mediterranean areas this month

Turkey will issue seismic exploration and drilling licenses in new areas of the eastern Mediterranean by the end of August and continue its operations in the region, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, amid tensions with Greece....

113. Turkey resumes drilling in eastern Mediterranean, Erdogan says

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey had resumed energy exploration work in the eastern Mediterranean as Greece had not kept its promises regarding such activities in the region. ...

114. Cyprus calls for EU task force on island

The European Union must do more to fill a power vacuum in the eastern Mediterranean brought on by a perceived US disengagement from the region, and Cyprus is ready to host an EU task force to achieve that goal, the island nation's foreign minister said Wednesday...

115. Athens open to talks but not so fast

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has welcomed a recent move from Turkey towards de-escalation in the region, saying Athens was open to dialogue but not on all things...

116. Cypriot president in Paris for talks

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday, as the two leaders get together amid heightened rhetoric over the eastern Mediterranean...

117. Greek armed forces on alert over Turkish exploration off Kastellorizo

The Antalya Navtex station on Tuesday announced plans for a Turkish seismic survey south and east of the Greek island of Kastellorizo from July 21-August 2....

118. Greek-Turkish ties come under strain

The already tense relationship between Greece and Turkey has been strained further in the wake of Ankara’s leaking of a supposedly secret meeting between Greek, Turkish and German officials following Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque and amid an increasingly aggressive Turkish stance in the East Mediterranean. The already tense relationship between Greece and Turkey has been strained further in the wake of Ankara’s leaking of a supposedly secret meeting between Greek, Turkish and German officials following Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque and amid an increasingly aggressive Turkish stance in the East Mediterranean. ...

119. Berlin bridge-building effort undermined by Ankara

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday revealed that a secret trilateral meeting between Turkish, German and Greek officials, mediated by Berlin, took place ahead of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on Monday in the wake of Turkey’s controversial decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque. ...

120. Turkey reacts to US plan for military education, training for Cyprus

Turkey expressed its disagreement over a US government plan to make International Military Education and Training (IMET) available to Cyprus, saying it does not help resolve the island’s division....