NICOSIA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus has told the United Nations that the violation of its sovereign rights in its offshore exclusive economic zone by Turkey does not allow the resumption of peace negotiations for the reunification of the island, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said on Thursday.
He added that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades also told the UN Secretary General's personal envoy on Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute, during a telephone conversation overnight on Wednesday that Turkey's action does not help create the appropriate climate for negotiations.
"But he conveyed once again to Lute the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to participate in a new round of talks, with a view to reach a viable and functional settlement of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the UN resolutions," Prodromou added.
Lute told Anastasiades that she remains determined, in line with the UN Secretary General's instructions, to work to create the appropriate conditions for the resumption of the dialogue, the spokesman said.
Tensions have flared up in the eastern Mediterranean between Cyprus and Turkey since early this month, after Turkey had sent a drill ship to explore for natural gas in an offshore area close to the Cypriot coast, which Cyprus considers part of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
Cypriot Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has told an audience of investors and entrepreneurs in London that the drill ship is now active just 37 nautical miles off the west coast of Cyprus and 83 nautical miles from the south shores of Turkey.
"I am wondering if anyone under any circumstances, through the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, can consider this area, 37 nautical miles from the coast, a disputed area," he said, pointing to a map of Cyprus.
Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974, when Turkey intervened militarily following a coup by Athens-backed Greek Cypriots. Numerous reunification talks between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots have failed.
UN-led negotiations since 1976 have failed to produce a solution to the problem. The UN is currently engaged in consultations with the parties involved to obtain their consent for the resumption of negotiations.
