President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday said he is “ready” to discuss the prospect of delineating the Republic of Cyprus’ maritime borders with the Republic of Turkey to the northwest of the island, if the Turkish government is also ready.

“If Turkey is ready to discuss with the Republic of Cyprus a delineation of our maritime borders in the northwest, we are ready to discuss it,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the Capital Link business forum in New York.

The maritime claims of Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus have long overlapped in the area of sea to the island’s west.

Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and is not a signatory to the United Nations convention on the law of the sea (Unclos), citing disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea over the latter, as the country does not believe that islands have an inherent right to full exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of their own.

Turkey’s claims have grown since the entering into mainstream Turkish political discourse of the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which claims large swathes of the Aegean, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea as Turkish territorial waters.

The Republic of Cyprus has notwithstanding signed agreements with neighbouring countries delineating EEZs and has also invited multinational energy corporations to drill for natural gas under the seabed off the island’s coasts.

On this matter on Saturday, Christodoulides said the Cypriot government is now “awaiting results” from American multinational ExxonMobil, which began drilling in Block 5 of Cyprus’ EEZ, which contains a potential natural gas reservoir named ‘Electra’, alongside QatarEnergy in January.

These results, he said, “will be important in determining the next steps, but also how quickly we can move”.

He was also keen to point out the agreements the Cypriot government has signed with other countries regarding its EEZ, saying, “the countries of the region … have defined our maritime borders for a long time”.

However, of Turkey’s non-ratifying of Unclos, he said the country “does not respect international law, the relevant 1982 treaty”.

On this matter, he stressed the importance of his trip to Paris last week and the videoconference held with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa while there.

“The meeting we had last week in Paris, the videoconference which also took place with [al-Sharaa], is also relevant here. A relevant statement was also issued by the French foreign ministry, which also puts this in black and white – the determination of maritime borders on the relevant 1982 convention,” he said.

After the fall of Syria’s former dictator Bashar al-Assad, fears had arisen that Syria and Turkey may delineate their EEZs without consulting Cyprus and thus encroach on the Republic of Cyprus’ claims.

These fears arose after al-Sharaa and the Turkish government forged close ties in the first days after Assad’s ouster, with Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu making reference to such plans in mid-December.

He then walked his statements back on Christmas Eve, saying any such agreement would “take into account international law”.

The lack of Turkish presence in the sea when ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy began drilling in Block 5 in January drew the ire of Turkish MPs, who criticised their country’s government for a perceived lack of action.

Ruling AK Party deputy leader Leyla Sahin Usta explained that according to maritime claims recognised by the Turkish government, Block 5 belongs to Egypt and not Turkey, and that thus it is not Turkey’s place to protest against or attempt to stop ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy’s operations.

“According to our Blue Homeland map, this is within Egypt’s continental shelf,” she said.

However, opposition MPs were less than convinced, with Iyi Party deputy leader Turhan Comez being the first to register his distaste.

“The maps are clear, that region does not belong to Egypt,” he began, before the CHP’s energy spokesman Deniz Yavuzyilmaz also offered his own disagreement.

“If it belongs to Egypt, why are the Greek Cypriots issuing a Navtex? Do not mock our intelligence. Block 5 off the coast of Cyprus has nothing to do with Egyptian territorial waters,” he said.

Comez then made a second intervention on the matter, demanding action from the government.

“The area being drilled belongs to Turkey. Where are our boats? Why can we not see the ‘Blue Homeland’ doctrine on the ground? Tell the truth to parliament and to the public. The Greek Cypriots are drilling in the TRNC’s territorial waters and we are just sat here watching,” he said.