The Eastern Mediterranean will face a security threat should Cyprus continue its unilateral operations of offshore oil and gas exploration in the region, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said in a speech at think tank Chatham House in London on Monday. Turkey, which recognizes the northern Turkish Cypriot government and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with the internationally recognized government of Cyprus, claims that part of the Cyprus offshore area is under the jurisdiction of Turkish Cypriots or Turkey. Tensions in the area flared up earlier this year, after Turkish Navy vessels threatened in February to sink a drilling ship that oil major Eni had hired to explore for oil and gas offshore Cyprus—the divided island whose northern part is run by Turkish Cypriots and is recognized only by Turkey. Weeks before that, Turkey’s Navy had blocked the drilling vessel that Eni had hired. Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi had […]