Το νέο μεγάλο αγκάθι στις σχέσεις της Αγκυρας με την Ουάσιγκτον, αυτό της εγκατάστασης της αντιπυραυλικής ασπίδας, καλούνται να αντιμετωπίσουν, άμα τη επιστροφή τους στην Τουρκία, ο Τούρκος πρωθυπουργός Ταγίπ Ερντογάν και ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών Αχμέτ Νταβούτογλου, με τα χρονικά περιθώρια να στενεύουν.
Ο γ.γ. του ΝΑΤΟ Αντερς Φογκ Ρασμούσεν, όπως δήλωσε και στις επαφές που είχε προχθές στην Αθήνα με τον πρωθυπουργό κ. Γ. Παπανδρέου, επιθυμεί να ληφθεί και εντός της Συμμαχίας απόφαση για την αντιπυραυλική ασπίδα στη σύνοδο κορυφής του Νοεμβρίου στη Λισσαβώνα.
Δημοσιογραφικές πηγές στην Αγκυρα αναφέρουν ότι η Ουάσιγκτον διεμήνυσε προς την Τουρκία ότι η διευρυνόμενη απόκλιση στις απόψεις των δύο χωρών καθιστά όλο και πιο δύσκολο να μπλοκαριστεί η υιοθέτηση από το Κογκρέσο των ΗΠΑ ψηφίσματος για την αρμενική γενοκτονία. Τα μηνύματα αυτά θεωρούνται προειδοποιητικές βολές και σαφείς ενδείξεις ότι η αμερικανική πλευρά είναι αποφασισμένη να εκδηλώσει τη δυσαρέσκειά της έμπρακτα.
Εκτιμήσεις
Οι δισταγμοί της Αγκυρας να υιοθετήσει την αμερικανική πρόταση για εγκατάσταση μέρους της αντιπυραυλικής ασπίδας σε τουρκικό έδαφος έρχονται να προστεθούν στην ενόχληση που ήδη διατυπώνεται από τις ΗΠΑ για την προσέγγιση Τουρκίας - Ιράν, αλλά και για την κρίση στις σχέσεις με το Ισραήλ, η οποία δεν δείχνει να εκτονώνεται. Με αυτά τα δεδομένα, αναλυτές εκτιμούν ότι η Αγκυρα δεν θα πρέπει να εκπλαγεί εάν δει, πριν από το τέλος του χρόνου, το ψήφισμα για τη γενοκτονία των Αρμενίων, που επί σειρά ετών δεν έχει περάσει στο Κογκρέσο, να υιοθετείται αυτή τη φορά.
Η Τουρκία εμφανίζεται εξαιρετικά επιφυλακτική έναντι της εγκατάστασης της αντιπυραυλικής ασπίδας, ενώ έχει ζητήσει, εφόσον προχωρήσει, να μην υπάρχει σαφής αναφορά σε κάποια γειτονική χώρα. Οι ενδοιασμοί αφορούν το Ιράν, το οποίο ΗΠΑ και ΝΑΤΟ «δείχνουν» ως πηγή πυρηνικής απειλής. Η πολιτική ηγεσία της γείτονος προβάλλει ως επιχείρημα των δισταγμών της και τον κίνδυνο να καταστεί το έδαφός της στόχος, από τη στιγμή που θα φιλοξενεί μέρος της εγκατάστασης για την αντιπυραυλική ασπίδα. Πάντως, αναλυτές προσδίδουν στις επιλογές που θα κάνει τελικά η Αγκυρα στο συγκεκριμένο θέμα χαρακτήρα «βαρόμετρου», που θα δείξει εάν η Τουρκία απομακρύνεται από τη Δύση και στρέφεται όλο και περισσότερο προς Ανατολάς. Οπως αναφέρουν, ένα «ναι» ή ένα «όχι» σε ΗΠΑ και ΝΑΤΟ θα είναι σαφές δείγμα για την ταυτότητα της εξωτερικής πολιτικής της Τουρκίας και του προς ποια πλευρά κλίνει, σε ποιο κόσμο ανήκει. Προσθέτουν, δε, ότι εάν οι δυτικοί σύμμαχοι και το ίδιο το ΝΑΤΟ παραμένουν σημαντικά για την Τουρκία, τότε θα πρέπει να είναι προσεκτική στις κινήσεις και τις αποφάσεις της, ώστε να μην προκαλέσει περαιτέρω δυσαρέσκεια. Οι εκτιμήσεις συγκλίνουν στο ότι καθίσταται όλο και πιο δύσκολο για τη γείτονα να συνεχίσει να «πατάει σε δύο βάρκες» και ότι όλο και πιο επιτακτικά θα τίθεται θέμα να ξεκαθαρίσει τη στάση της και να επιλέξει.
Οι στενές επαφές της Αγκυρας με την Τεχεράνη έχουν εγείρει έντονο προβληματισμό για τους μελλοντικούς σχεδιασμούς και τις προθέσεις της Τουρκίας και αυξανόμενη δυσαρέσκεια από αμερικανικής πλευράς. Οσον αφορά το θέμα του ψηφίσματος για τη γενοκτονία των Αρμενίων, θεωρείται κομβικός ο ρόλος και η στάση που θα ακολουθήσει το εβραϊκό λόμπι των ΗΠΑ. Αλλωστε, στο παρελθόν, το μπλοκάρισμα του σχετικού ψηφίσματος, ώστε να μην υιοθετηθεί από το Κογκρέσο, είχε εν πολλοίς αποδοθεί στην επιρροή του εβραϊκού λόμπι. Η κρίση στις σχέσεις Τουρκίας - Ισραήλ, όμως, έχει αλλάξει αυτό το δεδομένο
Read more: http://infognomonpolitics.blogspot.com/2010/10/o_23.html#ixzz13Bc7NvMr
Geopolitical Research Institute(GRI)/Εταιρεία Γεωπολιτικών Ερευνών(ΕΓΕ)
Σάββατο 23 Οκτωβρίου 2010
Πειρατική γεώτρηση στην κυπριακή ΑΟΖ εξήγγειλε η Τουρκία
Η Τουρκία "τραβάει το σχοινί" στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο και εξήγγειλε σήμερα (21-10-2010) την απόφασή της να προχωρήσει σε πειρατική γεώτρηση στην κυπριακή ΑΟΖ και εν συνεχεία εκμετάλλευσή των κοιτασμάτων που θα βρει. Σύμφωνα με σημερινές δηλώσεις του Τούρκου υπουργού Ενέργειας Taner Yildiz "Η Τουρκία θα ξεκινήσει την εκμετάλλευση των ενεργειακών πόρων στη θαλάσσια περιοχή γύρω από την Κύπρο και μέσα στην αποκλειστική ζώνη της νήσου και εν συνεχεία αν μπορεί να εφοδιάζει αυτή με πετρέλαιο και φυσικό αέριο τον ελληνοκυπριακό τομέα"!Ο Τούρκος υπουργός δεν χρειάστηκε καν να προσδιορίσει γεωγραφικά την περιοχή στην οποία αναφερόταν, αλλά είπε γενικά "γύρω από την Κύπρο" ως να αναφερόταν σε τουρκικό έδαφος! Οι δηλώσεις του Τούρκου υπουργού μπορεί να έχουν και ως στόχο την αποτροπή της εμπλοκής της μεγαλύτερης ισραηλινής εταιρείας φυσικού αερίου της Delek Group Ltd, στην αξιοποίηση των κυπριακών ενεργειακών κοιτασμάτων αφού η ισραηλινή εταιρεία δείχνει να ενδιαφέρεται για συνεργασία με την εταιρεία Noble Energy που ήδη έχει αναλάβει την εκμετάλλευση μίας περιοχής στα νοτιοανατολικά του νησιού εντός της κυπριακής ΑΟΖ.
Οι δύο εταιρείες συνεργάζονται ήδη σε προγράμματα αξιοποίησης κοιτασμάτων στην ΑΟΖ του Ισραήλ στην ίδια θαλάσσια περιοχή νοτιότερα της κυπριακής ΑΟΖ. Πιο συγκεκριμένα οι δύο εταιρείες πρόκειται σύντομα να ξεκινήσουν την εκμετάλλευση του πολλά υποσχόμενου κοιτάσματος Leviathan.
Η κοινοπραξία της εταιρείας Noble Energy των ισραηλινών εταιρειών Delek Drilling (θυγατρική της Delek Group Ltd), Avner Oil Exploration (θυγατρική της Delek Group Ltd) και Ratio Oil Exploration, έχει ξεκινήσει ήδη τις γεωτρήσεις στην θαλάσσια περιοχή που βρίσκεται το κοίτασμα Leviathan σε βάθος θαλάσσης 1,6 χλμ και συνολικό βάθος γεώτρησης 7,2 χλμ.
Σύμφωνα με την κοινοπραξία υπολογίζεται ότι το κοίτασμα περιέχει 453 δις κυβικά μέτρα φυσικού αερίου με την πιθανότητα επιτυχίας να φτάνει το 50%, ενώ σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες το φυσικό αέριο του κοιτάσματος αυτού πρόκειται να αξιοποιηθεί μόνο για εξαγωγές.
Πέρα από όλα αυτά η απόφαση της Άγκυρας "να τραβήξει το σχοινί" στην παρούσα φάση, μόνο τυχαία δεν είναι. Θεωρεί ότι η Ελλάδα είναι αδύναμη να υπερασπιστεί την Κύπρο και φυσικά η Κύπρος δεν μπορεί να υπερασπιστεί τον εαυτό της απέναντι στην Τουρκία. Μόνο που μπορεί να έχει εκπλήξεις από την πλευρά του Ισραήλ ή και της Γαλλίας...
Στο μεταξύ όπως γράφει σήμερα η τουρκική εφημερίδα "Ζαμάν" "Μέχρι το τέλος του έτους θα υπάρξει αποτέλεσμα σε κάποια ζητήματα αναφορικά με την υφαλοκρηπίδα στο Αιγαίο, υποστηρίζει σε δημοσίευμά της η τουρκική εφημερίδα “Ζαμάν”, επικαλούμενη "διπλωματικές πηγές".
Στο δημοσίευμα αναφέρεται ότι "τους τελευταίους μήνες σημειώνεται πρόοδος στις διερευνητικές επαφές, όπου εξετάζονται θέματα, όπως η υφαλοκρηπίδα, ο εναέριος χώρος και τα χωρικά ύδατα. Είναι άξια προσοχής η μείωση των αναφορών των ελληνικών ΜΜΕ και των παραπόνων των Ελλήνων πολιτικών σχετικά με το Αιγαίο.
Nabucco gas project has no future - Russian deputy PM
Russia's energy tsar Igor Sechin said on Friday the project of Nabucco gas pipeline, designed to pump natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe bypassing Russia, had no future.
"Given the estimates of the Turkmen side, as well as European and international experts, the current market situation on the gas track allows us to say and I say so without sarcasm that there are no prospects for Nabucco," the deputy prime minister told reporters.
The Nabucco project, supposed to pump gas from the Caspian region to European countries via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria, is a key element of western strategy to cut Europe's dependence on Russian energy supplies. The 7.9-billion euro pipeline is expected to have an annual capacity of 31 billion cubic meters of gas, or no more than five percent of Europe's gas consumption in 2020.
"There are no real prospects of increasing volumes, which makes the Nabucco project irrelevant. This can be forgotten until a certain moment of economic growth," Sechin said.
Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH., said last week that the consortium expected to begin the construction of the pipeline in 2012 and to launch it in 2015. Project participants expect significant volumes of gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq to fill the pipeline, he added.
Sechin said the Russian-backed Northern Stream pipeline would be launched by that time and the South Stream pipeline would also be developed.
He added that the South Stream "will take precedence over the terms, sources of supply".
"The conclusion is: Nabucco has no future," Sechin said.
"Given the estimates of the Turkmen side, as well as European and international experts, the current market situation on the gas track allows us to say and I say so without sarcasm that there are no prospects for Nabucco," the deputy prime minister told reporters.
The Nabucco project, supposed to pump gas from the Caspian region to European countries via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria, is a key element of western strategy to cut Europe's dependence on Russian energy supplies. The 7.9-billion euro pipeline is expected to have an annual capacity of 31 billion cubic meters of gas, or no more than five percent of Europe's gas consumption in 2020.
"There are no real prospects of increasing volumes, which makes the Nabucco project irrelevant. This can be forgotten until a certain moment of economic growth," Sechin said.
Reinhard Mitschek, managing director of the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH., said last week that the consortium expected to begin the construction of the pipeline in 2012 and to launch it in 2015. Project participants expect significant volumes of gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq to fill the pipeline, he added.
Sechin said the Russian-backed Northern Stream pipeline would be launched by that time and the South Stream pipeline would also be developed.
He added that the South Stream "will take precedence over the terms, sources of supply".
"The conclusion is: Nabucco has no future," Sechin said.
Mining plans in Turkey's Aegean region stir environmental fears
Plans to build a large nickel mine near an important natural area in Turkey’s Aegean region are generating fears among locals and environmental experts about widespread deforestation and soil contamination.
“The mine will have a detrimental effect. You buy water in the cities, but here, we drink it from the tap. If this mine is built, we won’t even be able to find [clean] water,” said Necip Köken, a businessman in Turgutlu, a town near where Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. hopes to establish a facility that will mine nickel by using sulfuric acid to extract the metal from rocks in the area.
“Who is going to give us the guarantee that something similar to that in Hungary won’t happen?” Köken asked.
The devastating toxic spill from an aluminum plant in western Hungary has further fanned long-held fears in Turgutlu, a town some 50 kilometers inland from İzmir where residents have been fighting the proposed Çaldağ mine for four years. The company’s statement that it is using the highest available technology and has received approval from the Environment and Forestry Ministry has not assuaged concerns about the facility’s effect on the surrounding watershed, the Gediz River Basin.
“Setting up the second-largest sulfuric-acid factory in the seventh-biggest agricultural basin in the world, and the most productive one in Turkey, is like storing a hundred tons of dynamite in your house,” said metallurgy engineer İsmail Duman, a professor at Istanbul Technical University and an opponent of the mine in Manisa province.
“Nature will be turned into a chemistry laboratory,” Duman said, claiming that 15 million to 18 million tons of sulfuric acid will be used in the open air over 15 years. “There are many different ways to extract nickel,” he added. “Operations should be done in a closed area.”
Environmentalists’ objections caused the 15-year mining permit granted to Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. to be canceled, but changes in the mining law will allow the company to restart operations once it raises sufficient capital.
Opponents say the project will lead to the felling of tens of thousands of trees and the contamination of the soil with millions of tons of sulfuric acid, damaging the area’s agriculture and water supply and forcing residents to leave. At the end of the 15-year contract, they say, the basin will be completely ruined.
The region is the capital for growing Sultaniye grapes and yellow raisins that are sold all over the world, Duman said, noting that 85 percent of grapes are dried in the open air.
“Picture this: The wind blows the acid onto the grapes. If you try to export them, which country will accept them?” he asked. “Before we even reach the end of 15 years, we will witness migration. More than 2 million people here will be affected.”
“We will not be able to sell most of the things you see in the market,” said Necati Gülkıyrak, the head of the Turgutlu Greengrocers Chamber.
Recovery of nickel through the heap-leaching process also requires the creation of areas to store, and eventually dispose of, the “tailings,” the often-toxic materials left over from extracting the metal. The sludge spill in Hungary occurred when a reservoir holding industrial waste burst, and locals and experts are concerned something similar could happen in Manisa.
The mining company’s system for handling waste will be built on a dangerously steep slope, Duman said. “They say it is a pooling system, but four-sixths of what they will build is a high dam according to the International Commission on High Dams’ criteria,” he added.
In a statement on its website, Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. said the technology to be employed in the project is up-to-date and compatible with European Unions norms. The company said the project has been approved by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the State Waterworks Authority, or DSİ, and a court decision based on an expert report by three professors from Dokuz Eylül University.
“There was misinformation [on the pools]. I am sure that if Ankara had known [that they were actually high dams], they would have never granted permission,” said Ayla Yönet, a representative of the Turkish environmental group TEMA.
“There were heavy rains this year and someone from a village [near Turgutlu] called me Feb. 2 and said, ‘There is a small flood here; the village is soaked in water,’” Yönet said, adding that a similar incident could be devastating if it caused a pool holding toxic materials to overflow and mingle with the floodwaters.
“When the waters from the pilot pool they constructed overflowed, our chicken and geese died,” said Mine Yönet, a housewife in the area. “The company bought properties that were worth 1,000 Turkish Liras for 40,000 liras, but now villagers regret having sold their land. They were not told the truth.”
Similar mining projects have caused serious damage in other places, said Ediz Tuncel, a faculty member at Near East University in northern Cyprus.
“The Cyprus Mining Co. located in the province of Lefke in 1913 used sulfuric acid in the open air to extract copper. Serious environmental pollution was caused back then,” Tuncel said. “A 100-kilometer-square area was devastated by work done in a 2-kilometer-square field. If you had used a nuclear bomb, it would not have caused such devastation.”
Miners working in the area often succumbed to cancer, added Tuncel. His grandfather, who suffered from leukemia, was among those miners. “My mother’s brother worked in the same mine, too,” Tuncel said. “He died of pancreas and intestinal cancer. So did our neighbors.”
“The mine will have a detrimental effect. You buy water in the cities, but here, we drink it from the tap. If this mine is built, we won’t even be able to find [clean] water,” said Necip Köken, a businessman in Turgutlu, a town near where Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. hopes to establish a facility that will mine nickel by using sulfuric acid to extract the metal from rocks in the area.
“Who is going to give us the guarantee that something similar to that in Hungary won’t happen?” Köken asked.
The devastating toxic spill from an aluminum plant in western Hungary has further fanned long-held fears in Turgutlu, a town some 50 kilometers inland from İzmir where residents have been fighting the proposed Çaldağ mine for four years. The company’s statement that it is using the highest available technology and has received approval from the Environment and Forestry Ministry has not assuaged concerns about the facility’s effect on the surrounding watershed, the Gediz River Basin.
“Setting up the second-largest sulfuric-acid factory in the seventh-biggest agricultural basin in the world, and the most productive one in Turkey, is like storing a hundred tons of dynamite in your house,” said metallurgy engineer İsmail Duman, a professor at Istanbul Technical University and an opponent of the mine in Manisa province.
“Nature will be turned into a chemistry laboratory,” Duman said, claiming that 15 million to 18 million tons of sulfuric acid will be used in the open air over 15 years. “There are many different ways to extract nickel,” he added. “Operations should be done in a closed area.”
Environmentalists’ objections caused the 15-year mining permit granted to Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. to be canceled, but changes in the mining law will allow the company to restart operations once it raises sufficient capital.
Opponents say the project will lead to the felling of tens of thousands of trees and the contamination of the soil with millions of tons of sulfuric acid, damaging the area’s agriculture and water supply and forcing residents to leave. At the end of the 15-year contract, they say, the basin will be completely ruined.
The region is the capital for growing Sultaniye grapes and yellow raisins that are sold all over the world, Duman said, noting that 85 percent of grapes are dried in the open air.
“Picture this: The wind blows the acid onto the grapes. If you try to export them, which country will accept them?” he asked. “Before we even reach the end of 15 years, we will witness migration. More than 2 million people here will be affected.”
“We will not be able to sell most of the things you see in the market,” said Necati Gülkıyrak, the head of the Turgutlu Greengrocers Chamber.
Recovery of nickel through the heap-leaching process also requires the creation of areas to store, and eventually dispose of, the “tailings,” the often-toxic materials left over from extracting the metal. The sludge spill in Hungary occurred when a reservoir holding industrial waste burst, and locals and experts are concerned something similar could happen in Manisa.
The mining company’s system for handling waste will be built on a dangerously steep slope, Duman said. “They say it is a pooling system, but four-sixths of what they will build is a high dam according to the International Commission on High Dams’ criteria,” he added.
In a statement on its website, Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.Ş. said the technology to be employed in the project is up-to-date and compatible with European Unions norms. The company said the project has been approved by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the State Waterworks Authority, or DSİ, and a court decision based on an expert report by three professors from Dokuz Eylül University.
“There was misinformation [on the pools]. I am sure that if Ankara had known [that they were actually high dams], they would have never granted permission,” said Ayla Yönet, a representative of the Turkish environmental group TEMA.
“There were heavy rains this year and someone from a village [near Turgutlu] called me Feb. 2 and said, ‘There is a small flood here; the village is soaked in water,’” Yönet said, adding that a similar incident could be devastating if it caused a pool holding toxic materials to overflow and mingle with the floodwaters.
“When the waters from the pilot pool they constructed overflowed, our chicken and geese died,” said Mine Yönet, a housewife in the area. “The company bought properties that were worth 1,000 Turkish Liras for 40,000 liras, but now villagers regret having sold their land. They were not told the truth.”
Similar mining projects have caused serious damage in other places, said Ediz Tuncel, a faculty member at Near East University in northern Cyprus.
“The Cyprus Mining Co. located in the province of Lefke in 1913 used sulfuric acid in the open air to extract copper. Serious environmental pollution was caused back then,” Tuncel said. “A 100-kilometer-square area was devastated by work done in a 2-kilometer-square field. If you had used a nuclear bomb, it would not have caused such devastation.”
Miners working in the area often succumbed to cancer, added Tuncel. His grandfather, who suffered from leukemia, was among those miners. “My mother’s brother worked in the same mine, too,” Tuncel said. “He died of pancreas and intestinal cancer. So did our neighbors.”
Turkey, Lebanon angle for Cyprus' offshore energy resources
As Lebanon and Greek Cyprus put the final touches on an agreement for oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey has begun weighing its own options for energy development off northern Cyprus.
Diplomats denied, however, that the countries were engaged in a “showdown” over the region’s resources.
“We have our own views on the issue of exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. First of all, Greek Cyprus does not represent the entire island and it cannot strike deals that concern the interests of the whole island,” a Turkish diplomatic source told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “That’s an attitude we have often shared with our Lebanese friends and I think they will take this into consideration.”
In a visit to Greek Cyprus on Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said his country was finalizing an agreement for energy exploration in the region, Lebanese media reported. Hariri also announced plans to include Syria in the economic zone, saying this would help all three countries benefit from gas and oil deposits in the Mediterranean.
The news about the agreement came as Turkey carries out its own studies on how to proceed with gas and oil exploration off the northern coast of Cyprus.
“This is not a showdown. Our relationship with the north of the island is obvious,” a Turkish diplomat told the Daily News, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We also want Greek Cyprus to reunify with the north and act in a fashion that will protect the rights of the island’s two communities, but at the current stage, we believe it is not correct for Greek Cyprus to forge a long-term engagement regarding the sharing of the island’s natural resources while there is no comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.”
Cyprus has been divided between north and south since 1974, when Turkey intervened in response to an Athens-backed coup seeking to unite the island with Greece.
The seabed splitting Lebanon and Greek Cyprus is believed to hold significant reserves of oil and natural gas. The two countries signed an exclusive zone agreement in January 2007 to demarcate an undersea border in order to designate where each country could carry out exploration activities once energy resources are discovered. Ankara disapproved of that deal, with the Foreign Ministry saying in a written statement at the time that Turkey was “determined to protect its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean” and would “not allow attempts to erode them.”
Following Hariri’s statement, however, officials downplayed the potential for conflict over the Lebanon-Greek Cyprus agreement.
“Lebanon is a sovereign state and can meet with any country as it wishes, but we’ll continue to convey our views and attitudes in a fashion that protects the entire island and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots,” Turkish Ambassador to Beirut İnan Özyıldız told the Daily News on Friday. “Lebanon is a friendly country, and we don’t believe it would act against Turkey.”
Turkey is closely following the matter and will seek information from and share its opinions with Lebanon, Özyıldız said. The two countries enjoy friendly ties, signing a visa-free travel agreement during Hariri’s visit to Turkey in January.
The exploration agreement needs to be ratified by the Lebanese parliament, which Hariri said would receive the law once a deal is reached with Damascus. Turkish diplomatic sources said, however, that they did not expect to see immediate ratification of the agreement.
“At the moment there is no reason to hurry. The agreement needs to pass [the Lebanese] parliament. If we consider the current political situation in Lebanon, we don’t believe there is an urgent situation, but we are continuing to closely follow it,” one source said, adding that the deal might be rejected or end up a low priority on the parliamentary agenda.
Greek Cyprus has signed a similar exploration agreement with Egypt and last month it signed a memorandum of cooperation with Israel for surveying and mapping in joint research energy projects.
Diplomats denied, however, that the countries were engaged in a “showdown” over the region’s resources.
“We have our own views on the issue of exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. First of all, Greek Cyprus does not represent the entire island and it cannot strike deals that concern the interests of the whole island,” a Turkish diplomatic source told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “That’s an attitude we have often shared with our Lebanese friends and I think they will take this into consideration.”
In a visit to Greek Cyprus on Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said his country was finalizing an agreement for energy exploration in the region, Lebanese media reported. Hariri also announced plans to include Syria in the economic zone, saying this would help all three countries benefit from gas and oil deposits in the Mediterranean.
The news about the agreement came as Turkey carries out its own studies on how to proceed with gas and oil exploration off the northern coast of Cyprus.
“This is not a showdown. Our relationship with the north of the island is obvious,” a Turkish diplomat told the Daily News, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We also want Greek Cyprus to reunify with the north and act in a fashion that will protect the rights of the island’s two communities, but at the current stage, we believe it is not correct for Greek Cyprus to forge a long-term engagement regarding the sharing of the island’s natural resources while there is no comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.”
Cyprus has been divided between north and south since 1974, when Turkey intervened in response to an Athens-backed coup seeking to unite the island with Greece.
The seabed splitting Lebanon and Greek Cyprus is believed to hold significant reserves of oil and natural gas. The two countries signed an exclusive zone agreement in January 2007 to demarcate an undersea border in order to designate where each country could carry out exploration activities once energy resources are discovered. Ankara disapproved of that deal, with the Foreign Ministry saying in a written statement at the time that Turkey was “determined to protect its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean” and would “not allow attempts to erode them.”
Following Hariri’s statement, however, officials downplayed the potential for conflict over the Lebanon-Greek Cyprus agreement.
“Lebanon is a sovereign state and can meet with any country as it wishes, but we’ll continue to convey our views and attitudes in a fashion that protects the entire island and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots,” Turkish Ambassador to Beirut İnan Özyıldız told the Daily News on Friday. “Lebanon is a friendly country, and we don’t believe it would act against Turkey.”
Turkey is closely following the matter and will seek information from and share its opinions with Lebanon, Özyıldız said. The two countries enjoy friendly ties, signing a visa-free travel agreement during Hariri’s visit to Turkey in January.
The exploration agreement needs to be ratified by the Lebanese parliament, which Hariri said would receive the law once a deal is reached with Damascus. Turkish diplomatic sources said, however, that they did not expect to see immediate ratification of the agreement.
“At the moment there is no reason to hurry. The agreement needs to pass [the Lebanese] parliament. If we consider the current political situation in Lebanon, we don’t believe there is an urgent situation, but we are continuing to closely follow it,” one source said, adding that the deal might be rejected or end up a low priority on the parliamentary agenda.
Greek Cyprus has signed a similar exploration agreement with Egypt and last month it signed a memorandum of cooperation with Israel for surveying and mapping in joint research energy projects.
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