Skip to main content

Turkey stops eastern Mediterranean drilling, wants talks with Greece

The area in which Turkey planned to drill for gas is considered by Greece and Cyprus to be their waters.

GettyImages-2.jpg
A picture taken at the port of Dilovasi, outside Istanbul, on June 20, 2019, shows the drilling ship 'Yavuz' scheduled to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, next to a warship. — BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey is halting its plans to drill for energy in the eastern Mediterranean. The news could reduce tensions between Turkey and Europe on the thorny issue for the time being.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a stop to seismic research activities pertaining to gas exploration in the sea, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday. Erdogan’s office now says it is willing to negotiate with Greece “without any precondition,” according to Anadolu.

Related Topics

Subscribe for unlimited access

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more

$14 monthly or $100 annually ($8.33/month)
OR

Continue reading this article for free

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more.

By signing up, you agree to Al-Monitor’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Already have an account? Log in