Northern Cyprus slams ‘maritime spatial planning’ approved by Southern Cyprus

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) denounced Friday the "maritime spatial planning" approved earlier this week by the Greek Cypriot administration.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the unilateral approach is “unacceptable.”

“Besides the so-called ‘maritime spatial planning’ declared by Greek Cypriot administration through ignoring the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots, Southern Cyprus has gone so far as to publish a map that overlaps with the maritime jurisdiction areas declared by Northern Cyprus and Türkiye,” it said in a statement.

"This so-called plan and map, in which the Turkish Cypriot people have no say, are null and void according to international law and have no validity for us," it said.

"Despite all our constructive calls, the Greek Cypriot Administration, which has continued to violate the equal rights of the Turkish Cypriot people regarding the island and its surroundings with its unilateral activities, has once again shown its preference for escalating tension instead of cooperation in the island and the Eastern Mediterranean region," it added.