Rekindling its Frontier Dispute with Cyprus, Turkey Begins Exploring off Kyrenia

摘要

Under the headline "Jupiter Against Aphrodite", the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibrisli reported that a seismic exploration vessel accompanied by a jack-up drilling rig called GSP Jupiter, which was supplied by the Romanian company Sonnat Offshore, had arrived off the port of Kyrenia, in the Turkish region of north-eastern of Cyprus, on 23 November. Citing Kibrisli, the Greek Cypriot newspaper Famagusta Gazette disclosed that the platform had been leased by Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in April for operations in the Black Sea. Turkey subsequently dispatched the seismic vessel Barbaras Hayrettin Pasa to the Eastern Mediterranean to carry out surveys off Cyprus. Aphrodite is the name of the field discovered offshore Cyprus by a consortium led by Noble Energy (AOG, 16 Jan., 2012).