Turkey turns up the Cypriot heat

Cyprus hopes international pressure will stop Turkish drilling in the country's offshore

Turkey has deployed two drilling vessels in the waters around Cyprus, as the Ankara regime ups the ante in another game of high-stakes militant diplomacy. One ship, Fatih, is anchored just to the west of the island. Until recently a second, Yavuz, was close to the eastern coast of Cyprus. Now, Yavuz is set to drill in Block 7 in Cyprus’ economic exclusion zone (EEZ). In September, the Cyprus government granted a licence to a consortium of Total and Italy's Eni to explore for hydrocarbons in that block. The Turkish move confirms the declared determination of the Ankara government to press its interpretation of how the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean should be shared. Turkey asserts that i