Cyprus accused of forging energy alliances to sideline Turkey
Joint energy projects of Cyprus, Greece, Egypt and Israel constitute attempts to confine Turkey to its continental shelf, Turkish MP and AKP member Ayse Bohurler said on Wednesday.
Speaking on the Turkish television channel Haberturk, Bohurler, a member of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, said Ankara was closely monitoring developments in the region and cautioned that it would respond with action should it be “deemed necessary.”
Bohurler said that Cyprus, Greece, Egypt and Israel had formed alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean, arguing that related agreements included efforts aimed at preventing Turkish activity and limiting its influence in the region.
She recalled Turkey’s deployment of the research vessel Oruc Reis in 2019, insisting that it was an exercise of the country’s sovereign rights that shaped its foreign policy.
In view of broader regional developments, she then claimed that the Black Sea and Aegean islands were being used to transport Russian oil to the Mediterranean and Aegean.
Following Bohurlers television appearance, a member of the opposition party CHP and former MP Yanki Bagcioglu said that Turkey had not carried out any activities in “critical areas” of the Eastern Mediterranean since December 2020.
“It is essential for our national interests that state operations, including exploration and drilling, be carried out in these areas, and that our flag and presence be demonstrated!” he said.
The research vessel Oruc Reis had taken centre stage during heated rows between Cyprus and Turkey over EEZ disputes and was last reported to have begun new gas searches in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2022.
DOĞU AKDENIZ ????????
— Yankı Bağcıoğlu (@YankiBagcioglu) February 18, 2026
⚓️ Çağrı Bey sondaj gemisi Somali açıklarına intikale başladı.
⚓️ Doğu Akdeniz’de uluslararası hukuk çerçevesinde münhasıran haklarımız olan kritik bölgelerde 2020 Aralık ayından beri faaliyet gösterilmiyor.
⚓️ Bu bölgelerde de araştırma/sondaj faaliyeti icra… pic.twitter.com/1eYa7TSQeO