Written declaration No. 499 | Doc. 12762 | 06 October 2011

Turkey’s threats against the sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus to explore its oil and natural gas resources within its Exclusive Economic Zone

Signatories: Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Miloš ALIGRUDIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Gerard BARCIA DUEDRA, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Joe BENTON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Laurent BÉTEILLE, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Georges CHARALAMBOPOULOS, Greece, SOC ; Mr Michael CONNARTY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Jim DOBBIN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Gvozden Srećko FLEGO, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Hans FRANKEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Erich Georg FRITZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Charles GARDETTO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Sophia GIANNAKA, Greece, SOC ; Mr Paolo GIARETTA, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Jim HOOD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Françoise HOSTALIER, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Anette HÜBINGER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Francine JOHN-CALAME, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Liana KANELLI, Greece, UEL ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr Michail KATRINIS, Greece, SOC ; Ms Athina KYRIAKIDOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Ms Darja LAVTIŽAR-BEBLER, Slovenia, SOC ; Mr Pavel LEBEDA, Czech Republic, SOC ; Ms Nicole MANZONE-SAQUET, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Muriel MARLAND-MILITELLO, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Evangelos MEIMARAKIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Patrick MORIAU, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Sandra OSBORNE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Elsa PAPADIMITRIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Zaruhi POSTANJYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr John PRESCOTT, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Andreja RIHTER, Slovenia, SOC ; Mr René ROUQUET, France, SOC ; Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Jim SHERIDAN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Martha Leticia SOSA GOVEA, Mexico ; Mr Yanaki STOILOV, Bulgaria, SOC ; Mr Christoph STRÄSSER, Germany, SOC ; Ms Doris STUMP, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Boško TOMIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SOC ; Lord John E. TOMLINSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Miltiadis VARVITSIOTIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Konstantinos VRETTOS, Greece, SOC ; Mr Johann WADEPHUL, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The Republic of Cyprus is being faced with strong and growing threats by Turkey, against exercising its sovereign right to prospect for oil and natural gas within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This right stems from and is in strict compliance with international law and in particular, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Turkey has not signed to date.

We, the undersigned:

• strongly condemn Turkey´s bellicose threats against a member state of the Council of Europe and the European Union,
• welcome statements by, inter alia, the USA, the Russian Federation, European Union member states and the European Union Commissioner for Enlargement concerning the inalienable sovereign right of Cyprus to explore eventual oil and natural gas deposits within its EEZ and ask the Parliamentary Assembly to openly support this right as well,
• call on the Turkish Prime Minister to immediately cease all threats and actions creating a climate of tension in the region, as well as his blackmail for collapse of the on-going talks on the Cyprus problem, should the Republic of Cyprus proceed with its exploration.