If arrest warrants issued by Cyprus for a Turkish drillship crew was meant to deter Ankara from its East Med exploration, then Nicosia will be disappointed. On 20 June, Turkey’s second drillship Yavuz set sail to target a well south of the Karpas peninsula in northern Cyprus.

In recent weeks, Cyprus and the EU have stepped up their rhetoric against Turkey’s moves to explore for hydrocarbons in Republic of Cyprus (RoC) waters. Greek PM Alexis Tsipras last week raised the possibility of imposing EU sanctions on Turkey. (CONTINUED - 317 WORDS)