Fatih Dönmez
Turkey will not allow any unilateral hydrocarbon drilling or exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Turkey's Energy Minister confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking at the 9th Exploration and Production Activity Consultation meeting in Ankara, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said that Turkey would not allow any parties to breach Turkey's rights or those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) based on international law.
Turkey on many occasions has contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling activity for gas in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources around the area.
According to the Greek Ekathimerini newspaper, Greek Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry, and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis and Egypt’s Oil Minister Tarek El-Molla signed an agreement on Wednesday for the construction of a sub-sea pipeline to export natural gas from the Cyprus Island to Egypt.
Fears of a massacre in Syria’s Idlib are hiding the moves made for “energy wars” that will last for decades in the Mediterranean. The United States has dispatched a command ship while Britain has deployed a nuclear submarine. Warships will follow drill ships. First companies from the U.S., then France, Britain and Italy will begin drilling in the area.U.S. oil and gas corporation Exxon is due to send two surveying vessels on Sept. 28 to explore offshore Cyprus near the area where Turkey blocked an Eni drilling ship from prospecting in February. Total, Shell, Eni, Qatar Petroleum, Noble Energy and Kogas also plan on initiating explorations in the Mediterranean.Meanwhile, the Greek administration of Cyprus has granted France permission to use its sea and air bases.Turkey takes actionThe U.S. also requested a base from Cyprus. In the face of these developments, Turkey has taken precautions with its fleet and is also due to launch explorations with the national Fatih ship in an area dubbed as rich in resources by a vessel that conducted seismic surveys. Turkey is expected to protect its interests and defend its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, which could become the battlefield of an energy war.Increased traffic in the MediterraneanNew deployments to the Eastern Mediterranean have continued. The U.K.’s nuclear powered submarine HMS Talent entered the Mediterranean in early September joining three other nuclear submarines and three U.S. destroyers. The USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, sailed to Greece’s Thessaloniki under the guise of the International Trade Fair.This buildup occurred amid tensions surrounding a possible offensive targeting Syria’s Idlib. The Syrian regime recently announced plans to launch a major military offensive in Idlib, which remains under the control of various armed opposition groups. The last such provocation triggered joint airstrikes by the U.S., UK and France against the Syrian regime. France has had a warship stationed in the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean for an extended period of time. While the Standing NATO Maritime Group has three ships deployed in the Mediterranean, other countries add supporting ships from time to time.Russia also staged a major naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean this month and its jets resumed bombing the Syrian region of Idlib, the last major enclave of the opposition fighting its ally President Bashar al-Assad.More than 25 warships and support vessels and around 30 planes, including fighter jets and strategic bombers, took part in Russia’s Mediterranean drills between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8. Ships from Russia’s Northern, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets as well as vessels from its Caspian Flotilla participated in the drills, which were led by the Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser.Turkey could start drilling in Eastern Mediterranean: FMCyprus basesUnder the scope of the 2007 agreement France signed with Cyprus, it has started to use sea and air bases. The U.S. is also attempting to utilize Cyprus’ bases. The U.K. already has sea and air bases in Cyprus. An interesting detail is that the Limassol port in Cyprus is used jointly by Russia and the U.S.Turkey protects its rights, interests in the MediterraneanGreek newspapers have reported that “a war that is not clear at first is developing in the Eastern Mediterranean,” and that if energy resources were found, then warships would be put into action.The fleet mobilization in the Mediterranean is linked to the drilling activities to be launched in autumn. Turkish Navy vessels blocked a drilling ship that oil major Eni hired to explore for oil and gas offshore Cyprus in late February, effectively protecting the rights and interests of Turkey.Turkish warships at the ready in East Med as Idlib battle loomsTurkey on the fieldAs Turkey showcases a resolute stance to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is taking precautions against any fait accompli within the context of the explorations that will begin in autumn. Turkey will forge a strong presence in the area with its natural gas exploration and drilling ships.
Eastern Mediterranean to become battleground for energy wars
The pipeline will transfer natural gas from the island’s Aphrodite natural gas field to a liquefaction plant based in the Edku town of Egypt’s Beheira governorate.
Cyprus was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after 1974 military coup was followed by violence against the island’s Turkish people, and Turkey’s intervention as a guarantor power.
Negotiations over Cyprus resumed after a 2004 UN-backed Annan Plan to reunify the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.
The reunification talks -- brokered by UN Special Cyprus Envoy Espen Barth Eide -- were launched in May 2015 to discuss a permanent settlement for the divided Mediterranean island.
The status of the island remains unresolved in spite of a series of discussions that resumed in May 2015.
There has been an on-and-off peace process over recent years, the latest failed initiative having taken place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in July 2017 under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K., collapsing earlier this year.
Turkey, in its capacity as a guarantor on the island, has also strengthened its presence in the Mediterranean Sea with its seismic and drilling vessels - the Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa, Oruc Reis and Fatih.
The Fatih vessel will conduct its first drilling in the Mediterranean in the new few months, he revealed.
This drilling is based on the success from Turkey's exploration and production industry, which has spent over $10 billion in the past 16 years.
"The exploration and production industry is creating $5 billion in value with its subsidiary industries today, but our potential is far above that," he said.
"We prevented imports of $20 billion in return for these investments, however, we are not at the point we want to be," he added.
He also vowed that domestic production would increase to support a strong economy and encourage more energy independence through utilizing Turkey's local resources.