During recent years, natural gas reserves have been located off the coast of Cyprus and their possible exploitation has drawn the attention of Turkey, which has been in occupation of Northern Cyprus for decades. This contribution explores whether the law of occupation could provide a legal basis for the exploitation by Turkey of Northern Cyprus’ natural gas, specifically considering the prolonged nature of the occupation. It argues that Turkey is obliged to comply with the restrictive rules governing the use of natural resources in occupied territories. Furthermore, this contribution discusses the argument that during prolonged occupations an occupying power should be granted more leeway in imposing wider ranging initiatives to prevent the local population’s developmental stagnation, including more extensive natural resource exploitation. However, this contribution argues that granting such leeway has the potential to entrench the authority of the occupant into a state of permanency under the guise of legitimacy.

近年来，天然气储量已位于塞浦路斯海岸附近，其可能的开采引起了土耳其的注意，土耳其已占领北塞浦路斯数十年。本文稿探讨了占领法是否可以为土耳其开采北塞浦路斯的天然气提供法律依据，特别是考虑到占领的长期性质。它争辩说，土耳其有义务遵守关于在被占领土上使用自然资源的限制性规则。此外，这篇文章讨论了这样一种论点，即在长期占领期间，占领国应该有更多的余地来实施更广泛的举措，以防止当地人口的发展停滞，包括更广泛的自然资源开发。然而，