US’s Bryza weighs in on oil exploration dispute

NICOSIA, Cyprus

An oil exploration dispute between Turkey and Cyprus will not undermine ongoing efforts by the two Cypriot communities to reunify the island, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said on Tuesday (June 30th). The dispute is a commercial and legal matter and should have no impact on reunification talks, Bryza told a news conference, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Nicosia. In May, Turkey protested Cypriot government plans to hire a US company that would start looking for oil in its exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea. Ankara insisted oil exploration would violate the rights of Turkish Cypriots over the island’s natural resources.