ENERGY: Cyprus ready to take legal action against second Turkish drillship

Cyprus threatens legal action if a second Turkish ship begins drilling inside the island’s exclusive economic zone as Ankara has warned it will do.

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In May, Cyprus issued around 20 international arrest warrants against three companies supporting ongoing drilling by Turkish drillship Fatih 42 miles off the island’s west coast.

A foreign ministry official said Nicosia is prepared to do the same if the vessel Yavuz starts drilling south of the Karpas peninsula.

"We have already initiated legal proceedings against companies cooperating with the TPAO," the foreign ministry official said, referring to Turkey's state energy firm. 

The ministry official said Tuesday that between 10 and 20 individuals, firms and executives were now subject either to arrest warrants or other legal action, including non-Turkish persons or entities. 

All these actions were in relation to the deployment of the Fatih in Cyprus' EEZ and similar action would be taken in the event of an anticipated breach by a second drill ship. 

The 229-metre-long Yavuz was deployed to the East Med by Turkey on June 20.

Ankara considers much of the Cypriot-designated EEZ to be part of its continental shelf and granted exploration licences to Turkish Petroleum in 2009 and 2012.

But last month, the EU threatened sanctions against individuals and companies involved in Ankara's "illegal drilling activities".

The United States has also urged Turkey to reconsider its exploratory drilling plans off Cyprus.