Turkey vows to keep drilling off Cyprus despite EU warnings

Ankara (AFP): Turkey on Wednesday vowed to keep on with drilling activities off Cyprus despite tensions with the European Union, which has called on Ankara to cease its "illegal" action.

The discovery of huge gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has sparked a dispute between EU member Cyprus and Turkey, which last month sent a second ship called Yavuz to search for oil and gas in the region.

"The drilling activities of our ship Yavuz are based on legal and legitimate grounds," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.