06-20-2019, 03:01 PM
** 20-Jun-2019 World View: Turkey-EU tensions grow over Cyprus
It's probably not yet about to become a shooting war, but tensions
over Cyprus between Turkey versus Greece and the EU are the highest in
years. The tensions are over Turkey's plans to drill for gas and oil
in the waters west of Cyprus.
![[Image: 5bf3bd0e4f15711b2dee92c6_Cyprus%20in%20t...20East.png]](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5b2accd8cfe7f108e315278c/5bf3bd0e4f15711b2dee92c6_Cyprus%20in%20the%20Middle%20East.png)
The island of Cyprus was a colony of Britain until it
gained independence from Britain in 1960 under a power-sharing
agreement between the Greeks and the Turks. Three countries --
Britain, Greece and Turkey -- would be responsible for
guaranteeing security in the new country.
Violence erupted soon after. In 1974, Greece's military junta backed
a coup against the president of Cyprus, leading to a civil war.
Turkey responded by invading northern Cyprus. About 165,000 Greek
Cypriots fled or were driven from the Turkish-occupied north, and
about 45,000 Turkish Cypriots left the south for the north.
Cyprus has been bitterly divided since the 1974 war, with Greek
Orthodox Christian Greeks governing the south, and Muslim Turks
governing the north. The two sides are partitioned by a "no-man's
land," a strip that stretches 112 miles across the entire island.
![[Image: 5bf3baa233833909b40cb41c_1*DTkHoiKmKnzFQtv_CeYwtg.png]](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5b2accd8cfe7f108e315278c/5bf3baa233833909b40cb41c_1*DTkHoiKmKnzFQtv_CeYwtg.png)
The capital city Nicosia is in the center of Cyprus and is
partitioned as well. While partitions of other cities,
including Beirut, Belfast and Berlin, have disappeared in the last
few decades, the partition remains in Nicosia.
The Greek-ruled southern portion of Cyprus has become known as the
Republic of Cyprus. It joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, and
joined the eurozone on January 1, 2008. In the years that followed,
Cyprus had a major financial crisis and had to be bailed out by the
European Central Bank, the International Fund, and the European
Commission. Cyprus is not a member of Nato, and attempts for Cyprus
to join Nato have been blocked by the powerful pro-Russian communists
in the Greek Cypriot government.
The current surge in tensions was triggered in February, after
ExxonMobil announced that deep-water drilling off the western coast of
Cyprus had revealed a significant discovery of oil and gas. Greek
Cypriot energy minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said:
This must have sounded to officials in Turkey like waving a red flag
in front of a bull. Turkey does not recognize the sovereignty of the
(Greek) Republic of Cyprus, and in particular does not recognize
Cyprus's EEZ.
Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu released a letter saying:
Turkey said it would “exercise its sovereign rights” to drill off
Cyprus, and deployed its state-of-the-art drilling ship, the Fatih,
and its support vessels in May to begin drilling operations in the
potential gas fields identified by ExxonMobil, in Greek Cyprus's EEZ.
Then, last week, Turkey announced that it will send a second drilling
ship, the Yavuz, which can drill 12,200 meters deep, to begin
operations in early July.
The EU is threatening diplomatic retaliation, by freezing negotiations
over the modernization of the customs union between the EU and Turkey.
Originally, Turkey was going to join the European Union, but those
negotiations died years ago. Then Turkey was going to join the
Schengen zone, which would mean that any Turkish citizen could travel
throughout Europe without requiring a visa, but those negotiations
died as well. So now the negotiations have been over a customs
union, which would allow relatively frictionless trade between
Turkey and the EU, and the EU is threatening to end those negotiations
as well, because of the new Cyprus crisis.
Greece's prime minister Alexis Tsipras would like the EU to impose
sanctions on Turkey. But the EU cannot go too far in sanctioning or
even criticizing Turkey, since Turkey is the gatekeeper for millions
of Syrian refugees on Turkish soil who would otherwise have tried to
reach Europe.
---- Sources:
-- Greece and Cyprus call on EU to punish Turkey in drilling dispute
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/j...ng-dispute
(Guardian, 18-Jun-2019)
-- Turkey insists on right to drill for energy reserves off Cyprus
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/m...off-cyprus
(Guardian, 20-May-2019)
-- Huge gas discovery off Cyprus could boost EU energy security
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/f...y-security
(Guardian, 28-Feb-2019)
-- Turkey launches new gas drillship amid tensions with Cyprus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...story.html
(WaPost/AP, 20-Jun-2019)
-- Turkey Defies EU by Sending Second Ship to Drill Off Cyprus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...off-cyprus
(BB, 20-Jun-2019)
-- Cyprus Ghost Town Becomes Pawn in Drilling Dispute With Turkey
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ith-turkey
(BB, 19-Jun-2019)
-- NATO Membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ne...for-cyprus
(AtlanticCouncil, 31-Mar-2019)
It's probably not yet about to become a shooting war, but tensions
over Cyprus between Turkey versus Greece and the EU are the highest in
years. The tensions are over Turkey's plans to drill for gas and oil
in the waters west of Cyprus.
- Map of Cyprus in the east Mediterranean Sea
The island of Cyprus was a colony of Britain until it
gained independence from Britain in 1960 under a power-sharing
agreement between the Greeks and the Turks. Three countries --
Britain, Greece and Turkey -- would be responsible for
guaranteeing security in the new country.
Violence erupted soon after. In 1974, Greece's military junta backed
a coup against the president of Cyprus, leading to a civil war.
Turkey responded by invading northern Cyprus. About 165,000 Greek
Cypriots fled or were driven from the Turkish-occupied north, and
about 45,000 Turkish Cypriots left the south for the north.
Cyprus has been bitterly divided since the 1974 war, with Greek
Orthodox Christian Greeks governing the south, and Muslim Turks
governing the north. The two sides are partitioned by a "no-man's
land," a strip that stretches 112 miles across the entire island.
- Cyprus today.
https://www.a-maverick.com/blog/cyprus-t...amed-after
The capital city Nicosia is in the center of Cyprus and is
partitioned as well. While partitions of other cities,
including Beirut, Belfast and Berlin, have disappeared in the last
few decades, the partition remains in Nicosia.
The Greek-ruled southern portion of Cyprus has become known as the
Republic of Cyprus. It joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, and
joined the eurozone on January 1, 2008. In the years that followed,
Cyprus had a major financial crisis and had to be bailed out by the
European Central Bank, the International Fund, and the European
Commission. Cyprus is not a member of Nato, and attempts for Cyprus
to join Nato have been blocked by the powerful pro-Russian communists
in the Greek Cypriot government.
The current surge in tensions was triggered in February, after
ExxonMobil announced that deep-water drilling off the western coast of
Cyprus had revealed a significant discovery of oil and gas. Greek
Cypriot energy minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said:
Quote: "This is the biggest discovery so far in Cyprus’s
exclusive economic [maritime] zone (EEZ) and, based on official
data, one of the biggest worldwide in the last two
years."
This must have sounded to officials in Turkey like waving a red flag
in front of a bull. Turkey does not recognize the sovereignty of the
(Greek) Republic of Cyprus, and in particular does not recognize
Cyprus's EEZ.
Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu released a letter saying:
Quote: "Turkey does not recognize the unilateral and
illegitimate exclusive economic zone claims of the Greek Cypriots.
Third parties should refrain in taking sides in overlapping
maritime boundary claims and they should not act as if they are in
a court in rendering judgement on bilateral maritime
boundaries."
Turkey said it would “exercise its sovereign rights” to drill off
Cyprus, and deployed its state-of-the-art drilling ship, the Fatih,
and its support vessels in May to begin drilling operations in the
potential gas fields identified by ExxonMobil, in Greek Cyprus's EEZ.
Then, last week, Turkey announced that it will send a second drilling
ship, the Yavuz, which can drill 12,200 meters deep, to begin
operations in early July.
The EU is threatening diplomatic retaliation, by freezing negotiations
over the modernization of the customs union between the EU and Turkey.
Originally, Turkey was going to join the European Union, but those
negotiations died years ago. Then Turkey was going to join the
Schengen zone, which would mean that any Turkish citizen could travel
throughout Europe without requiring a visa, but those negotiations
died as well. So now the negotiations have been over a customs
union, which would allow relatively frictionless trade between
Turkey and the EU, and the EU is threatening to end those negotiations
as well, because of the new Cyprus crisis.
Greece's prime minister Alexis Tsipras would like the EU to impose
sanctions on Turkey. But the EU cannot go too far in sanctioning or
even criticizing Turkey, since Turkey is the gatekeeper for millions
of Syrian refugees on Turkish soil who would otherwise have tried to
reach Europe.
---- Sources:
-- Greece and Cyprus call on EU to punish Turkey in drilling dispute
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/j...ng-dispute
(Guardian, 18-Jun-2019)
-- Turkey insists on right to drill for energy reserves off Cyprus
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/m...off-cyprus
(Guardian, 20-May-2019)
-- Huge gas discovery off Cyprus could boost EU energy security
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/f...y-security
(Guardian, 28-Feb-2019)
-- Turkey launches new gas drillship amid tensions with Cyprus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...story.html
(WaPost/AP, 20-Jun-2019)
-- Turkey Defies EU by Sending Second Ship to Drill Off Cyprus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...off-cyprus
(BB, 20-Jun-2019)
-- Cyprus Ghost Town Becomes Pawn in Drilling Dispute With Turkey
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ith-turkey
(BB, 19-Jun-2019)
-- NATO Membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ne...for-cyprus
(AtlanticCouncil, 31-Mar-2019)
