Cyprus ready to cooperate with Turkey on energy ‘as long as island is reunified’

Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades has called on Turkey to cooperate on exploiting the east Mediterranean’s potential oil and gas wealth, as long as the ethnically split island nation is reunified, according to AP. Speaking at a conference on Friday, the president said Cyprus is ready to work with Turkey as part of energy-based partnerships it has built with other neighboring countries. But he said a reunification agreement must come first. Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said that Cyprus wants Turkey to join these partnerships, but that won’t happen if Cyprus remains divided. Christodoulides added that Ankara’s threats against Cyprus’ own energy search won’t draw Cyprus into a discussion disputing its sovereign rights. Washington believes “military responses to potential commercial disputes are inappropriate,” said US Ambassador to Cyprus Kathleen Doherty.