Anger at South’s energy deal
THE TRNC and Turkey reacted angrily this week after Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades signed an energy agreement with the leaders of Greece and Jordan just days after securing a declaration from EU states for a solution on the island “without guarantees”.
Tensions also rose after South Cyprus unveiled on Monday its first ever offshore patrol vessel at a ceremony at the Evangelos Florakis naval base. The Israeli-built ship will be used to protect areas the Greek Cypriot administration deem to be part of their “exclusive economic zone” (EEZ), where they are planning more unilateral exploration for hydrocarbons. Mr Anastasiades — who will be seeking re-election next Sunday, January 28 — declared that he had “turned words into actions”, adding that orders for two more warships had already been placed.
The commissioning of the patrol ship came a day before Mr Anastasiades hosted Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Jordan’s King Abdullah II for a special ceremony to sign a series of “cooperation” agreements in a range of fields, including on energy.
The signing of the agreements was slammed by President Mustafa Akıncı’s spokesman, Barış Burcu, who accused Mr Anastasiades of “sabotaging” Turkish-Greek relations.
He said the Greek Cypriot side was “conducting work aimed at unilaterally declaring the seas north of Cyprus as being part of their EEZ”.
Mr Burcu said Turkey’s Deep Sea Metro II drilling ship would now be sent to the region “once preparations have been completed”.
A statement from the TRNC Foreign Ministry accused South Cyprus of taking “dangerous steps” and said the agreements with Greece and Jordan were “not binding on the Turkish Cypriots in any way”.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the deals were “unacceptable”, but Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides hit back, saying Turkish Cypriots should “not have declared your pseudo-state if you wanted to have a say in the use of sovereign rights”.
National Unity Party MP Hasan Taçoy called the agreements between South Cyprus, Greece and Jordan “the last straw” and accused the Greek Cypriot side of “playing with fire”.
Political scientist Ahmet Sözen, a lecturer at Eastern Mediterranean University, said it would be “naïve” to expect, in the absence of a solution in Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots to take joint decisions with the Turkish Cypriots concerning the island’s natural resources.
Another analyst, İsmail Kemal, said international energy firms had become a “shield” for the Greek Cypriot side. “There is not a lot the Turkish Cypriot side can do,” he added.
There was also condemnation of a joint statement issued by Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta and South Cyprus at the Fourth Summit of Southern EU Countries in Rome last Friday.
The declaration following the event stated that the countries supported a solution on the island which “safeguards Cyprus’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, without guarantees”.
It added that “the Republic of Cyprus is and will remain a member of the European Union after the settlement, and EU membership is the best safeguard for a reunified Cyprus”.
The TRNC Foreign Ministry called on the EU to adopt a more “balanced and just” approach to Cyprus which “takes into consideration the realities of the island and the political sensitivities”.
Parliamentary Speaker Sibel Siber said “the type of solution wanted by Mr Anastasiades was very clear”.
“Anastasiades adopted a position of zero guarantees . . . and has now got this in the Rome summit statement,” she said.
People’s Party chairman and former Cyprus talks negotiator Kudret Özersay said “issuing a reaction alone is not enough” and what needed to be done was “pro-active diplomatic representation explaining our side of the story”.