Cyprus has ordered the arrest of the crew of a Turkish oil drilling vessel anchored not far from its coast.
The Turkish ship would be in waters where only Cypriot vessels have the right to explore the seabed. A thriving backdrop of natural gas and oil.
Already last 10 June, rumors of possible arrest warrants had warned Ankara.
The two countries have been at loggerheads since 1974, after the division of the island into two parts, the Greek and the Turkish, the discovery of natural gas fields in the seabed off the coast of Cyprus have further exacerbated relations.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry responded shortly, saying that if the arrest warrants were executed, an adequate response would follow.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in any case defined any agreement that excludes Turkey as "invalid", also reiterates that the Turkish Cypriots, and consequently Ankara too, have rights over the area's resources.
The Turkish drill, Fatih, has been anchored in the west of Cyprus since last month, and another, the Yavuz, is expected to leave for the waters lapping the island's eastern shores.