The 2018 Cyprus gas dispute is a diplomatic dispute involving the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the
Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
(in partnership with
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
) in the eastern Mediterranean, which began on February 6, 2018. The dispute followed remarks made by Turkey's foreign minister
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015.
He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is ...
, rejecting a 2003 Cypriot-Egyptian maritime border demarcation deal and announcing the Turkish government's intention to carry out gas exploration in the region. Tensions in the region further escalated on February 9, when the Turkish Navy blocked a drill ship operated by Italian oil company
Eni S.p.A., licensed by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, from exploring gas reserves off the island.
Çavuşoğlu said during his interview with the Greek newspaper ''
Kathimerini
''Kathimerini'' (Greek: Η Καθημερινή, pronounced kaθimeriˈni meaning ''The Daily'') is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens. Its first edition was printed on September 15, 1919. and it is considered ...
'' that
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
s have "undeniable rights" to the Cypriot EEZ. Egypt's Foreign Ministry reacted by warning Turkey not to contest the 2013 deal and Egyptian economic interests in the region, adding that any attempts to do so would be confronted. The Cypriot government officials have emphasised that any future benefits are for all Cypriots, including the Turkish Cypriots, but only after a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. On February 16, Eni CEO
Claudio Descalzi
Claudio Descalzi (born 1955) is an Italian businessman, CEO of Eni since May 2014.
Education
Claudio Descalzi graduated in Physics at the University of Milan in 1979.
Career
Descalzi started to work at Eni in 1981, when he joined the multinatio ...
stated that the Turkish blockade of its drill ship, Saipem 12000, was out of Eni's hands and that the issue was being discussed by involved parties. In November 2018, the partnership of the Cypriot government and US company
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
successfully began carrying out
hydrocarbon exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology.
Exploration methods
Vis ...
, escorted by
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
ships, with Turkey remaining passive.
Background
In the early 1970s, the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) gave oil companies permission to search the island's waters for hydrocarbons, and the first exploration started in 1977. Earlier, in 1974, Turkey
invaded Cyprus, leaving in its wake
an unresolved ethnic dispute and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) occupying the northern part of the island, which is only recognized by Turkey.
In 2002, the
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establi ...
prevented ''Northern Alliance'', a ship operated by a RoC-commissioned Norwegian company, from exploring the Cypriot EEZ. In 2003, the governments of Cyprus and Egypt signed maritime border agreement delineating their respective EEZs. Cyprus also signed a similar agreement with the government of Lebanon in January 2007. Later that same month, the RoC defined thirteen zones (named "Blocks") in its EEZ, and invited tenders for eleven of them in the following months.
Turkey, a non-signatory to the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...
, claims Block 3 of the Cypriot EEZ as part of its continental shelf.
In November 2008, a Turkish Navy vessel was involved in a standoff with two ships operated by Norwegian company
Petroleum Geo-Services
PGS (Petroleum Geo-Services) is a technologically focused oilfield service company involved in providing geophysical services worldwide. Its seismic service offerings help oil companies find oil and gas reserves offshore. Product offerings span ...
, a day before the
Turkish Petroleum Corporation was given
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
's permission to explore waters claimed by the Cypriot government. Three days later, the RoC found ''Malene Ostervold'', a Norwegian-flagged ship commissioned by Turkey, surveying the region's waters.
Ankara believes the Turkish Cypriot community should be allowed to benefit from the island's offshore resources. In 2014, Turkey deployed two warships to the Cypriot EEZ and started conducting seismic surveys in the region. Cypriot president
Nicos Anastasiades
Nicos Anastasiades ( el, Νίκος Αναστασιάδης ; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician who is the current president of Cyprus since 2013. He was re-elected in 2018. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally betwe ...
responded by suspending unification talks with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart,
Derviş Eroğlu
Derviş Eroğlu (born 7 March 1938) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2010[Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...](_blank)
, Egypt and Greece expressed their disapproval of the Turkish moves. They also outlined plans for energy cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara responded by stating that the Turkish Navy would apply the rules of engagement should it encounter any warship in the region.
In 2015, the
Zohr Field
The Zohr gas field is an offshore natural gas field located in the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea. The field is located in the Shorouk concession, a concession with an area of which was won by Eni in 2013. The field is estimated to li ...
was discovered by Eni in the Egyptian EEZ, setting off a gas exploration race in the eastern Mediterranean. Zohr also revived the Cypriot gas industry's potential to be part of regional projects, such as a gas pipeline to Europe. Other initiatives include a pipeline to Egypt's decommissioned liquefaction plants and shipping the produced
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
(LNG) from Egyptian terminals to foreign markets.
Timeline
The 2018 Cyprus gas dispute began on February 6, 2018. The dispute followed remarks made by Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, rejecting a 2003 Cypriot-Egyptian maritime border demarcation deal and announcing the Turkish government's intention to carry out gas exploration in the region. Tensions in the region further escalated on February 9, when the
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establi ...
blocked a drill ship operated by Italian oil company
Eni S.p.A., licensed by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, from exploring gas reserves off the island.
Çavuşoğlu said during his interview with ''
Kathimerini
''Kathimerini'' (Greek: Η Καθημερινή, pronounced kaθimeriˈni meaning ''The Daily'') is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens. Its first edition was printed on September 15, 1919. and it is considered ...
'' that
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
s represented by the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recog ...
(only recognized by Turkey), have "undeniable rights" to the Cypriot EEZ. Egypt's Foreign Ministry reacted by warning Turkey not to contest the 2013 deal and Egyptian economic interests in the region, adding that any attempts to do so would be confronted. The Cypriot government officials have emphasised that any future benefits are for all Cypriots, including the Turkish Cypriots, but only after a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. On February 16, Eni CEO
Claudio Descalzi
Claudio Descalzi (born 1955) is an Italian businessman, CEO of Eni since May 2014.
Education
Claudio Descalzi graduated in Physics at the University of Milan in 1979.
Career
Descalzi started to work at Eni in 1981, when he joined the multinatio ...
stated that the Turkish blockade of its drill ship, Saipem 12000, was out of Eni's hands and that the issue was being discussed by involved parties.
On November 16, the partnership of the Cypriot government and US company
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
successfully began carrying out
hydrocarbon exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology.
Exploration methods
Vis ...
, escorted by
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
ships, with Turkey remaining passive. The Turkish Foreign Ministry responded with a statement in which its spokesman, Hami Aksoy, vowed that Turkey would begin drilling operations of its own in Cypriot waters.
Meral Aksener, a prominent opposition leader and head of the
Good Party
The Good Party ( Turkish: ''İyi Parti'') is a nationalist, national conservative, Kemalist, and liberal democrat political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 by its current leader Meral Akşener. Their fraternal party is the liber ...
, addressed the
Turkish parliament
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...
calling for a repeated invasion of Cyprus saying "You should know that if need be 'Ayşe will go on holiday again'", a reference to the code phrase that was used as a signal for the 1974 invasion. She additionally said that "Cyprus is Turkish and will remain Turkish".
In July 2019, the
European Council
The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...
adopted the following conclusions on the Turkish drilling activities in the
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea.
It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to communi ...
:
* Calls again on Turkey to act in a spirit of good neighbourliness and respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
in accordance with international law.
* Welcomes the invitation by the Government of Cyprus to negotiate with Turkey on delimitation of
exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf through dialogue and in full respect of international law.
* The EU remains fully committed to supporting the UN-led efforts to work with the parties with a view to creating the conditions conducive to resuming negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.
* To suspend negotiations on the Comprehensive
air transport agreement
An air transport agreement (also sometimes called an air service agreement or ATA or ASA) is a bilateral agreement to allow international commercial air transport services between signatories.
The bilateral system has its basis under the Chicago ...
and not to hold further meetings of the
EU-Turkey high-level dialogues.
* The Council endorses the Commission's proposal to reduce the pre-accession assistance to Turkey for 2020 and invites the
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...
to review its lending activities in Turkey.
* In accordance with the European Council conclusions of 20 June, invites the High Representative and the Commission to continue work on options for targeted measures in light of Turkey's continued drilling activities.
* The Council will closely monitor developments and will revert to this issue as appropriate.
See also
*
Aphrodite gas field
Aphrodite gas field is an offshore gas field off the southern coast of Cyprus located at the exploratory drilling block 12 in the country's maritime Exclusive Economic Zone. and bordering the Yishai gas field, located in Israeli territorial wate ...
*
Zohr field
The Zohr gas field is an offshore natural gas field located in the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea. The field is located in the Shorouk concession, a concession with an area of which was won by Eni in 2013. The field is estimated to li ...
*
Leviathan gas field
The Leviathan gas field is a large natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, south-west of the Tamar gas field. The gas field is roughly west of Haifa in waters deep in the Levantine basin, a rich hydrocarbon area in ...
*
Tamar gas field
The Tamar gas field is a natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. The field is located in Israel's exclusive economic zone, roughly west of Haifa in waters deep. The Tamar field is considered to have proven reserves o ...
*
Noble Energy
Noble Energy, Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, the company was acquired by Chevron Corporation.
The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002.
As of December ...
*
Greece–Israel relations
Greece–Israel relations are the bilateral relationship between the Hellenic Republic and the State of Israel. Relations between the two countries were strained during the late 20th century, as Greece supported and maintained strong relations w ...
*
Cyprus–Egypt relations
*
Cyprus–Israel relations
Notes
References
{{Cyprus dispute
Cyprus–Turkey relations
Egypt–Turkey relations
Disputed waters
Natural gas field disputes
Cyprus gas dispute
Cyprus gas dispute
Cyprus gas dispute
Cyprus dispute