North Cyprus calls for hydrocarbons talks with south

North Cyprus Minister of Energy, Ozdil Nami on Thursday called on south Cyprus government to discuss the issue of hydrocarbons with the aim of resolving the dispute between the two sides and facilitating efforts to reunify the island.

Speaking on State television, Bayrak television, Ozdil Nami said he was ready to talk hydrocarbons with Greek Cypiot Energy Minister, Lakkotrypis under UN auspices or at any other venue.

If the Greek Cypriot minister wishes to discuss with us, there are ways, we can sit down like civilized people and talk, Nami said.

He went on to accuse Greek Cypriots of using the hydrocarbons issue as a bargaining chip over Turkey.

An agreement might see revenues from natural gas being transferred into a fund, to be used to finance a future settlement of the Cyprus problem, he added.

According to Nami, Turkey has legitimate rights over hydrocarbons in the sea area around the island, as do the Turkish Cypriots.

On the one hand, the Greek Cypriot side signed agreements for its own benefit with companies from America, France and Italy, and is striving to safeguard these agreements, but as soon as it finds itself in a tight spot it seeks to shift the whole issue to the EU and asks for their support, said Nami.

In a similar way, we are cooperating with Turkey in a bid to safeguard our own interests.