Turkish oil drilling ship flees north

A Turkish oil and gas drilling ship left its position in southwest Cyprus on Sunday, for the first time in several months, boosting hopes of easing escalating tensions over an energy dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.

Yavuz' crew is looking for natural gas near Cyprus without the government's approval in Nicosia. The island has been divided into the Greek Cypriot part, which is a member of the European Union and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Ankara.

Officials in Nicosia said the port of Yavuz' destination was unknown, but praised that if the ship continued to sail north, it could be another sign of easing tensions, as it could reach Turkish territorial waters in the evening.

Turkey and Greece are at odds over energy-rich territorial waters and tensions escalated when Ankara sent a research ship to the disputed Mediterranean accompanied by warships.

NATO allies Greece and Turkey have developed a mechanism to avoid conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean, the secretary general said Thursday. NATO Jens Stoltenberg, as part of efforts to ease a dispute over energy sources in the region.

Germany is leading diplomatic efforts for a broader dialogue, and EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss how to avoid any escalation during gas fields research.

Stoltenberg said the agreement between Turkey and Greece includes a telephone line to avoid sea and air accidents.

This security mechanism could help create space for diplomatic efforts to resolve the underlying dispute, and avoiding conflicts in military vocabulary would mean establishing a communication link between rival armies, as did the US with Russia in Syria.