2024-07-20 08:03:34
Eves of the 50th tragic anniversary of “Attila” in martyrdom CyprusAnkara closed with NAVTEX until August 5 a very large area in the Eastern Mediterranean, prohibiting the passage of other ships.
The reason; A Turkish oceanographic vessel, the Akdeniz-1, will carry out scientific research in the area south of the Karpathos, where Ankara defiantly considers that it belongs to the Turkish continental shelf. Showing its intentions, the Turkish Ministry of Defense officially announced that 50 Turkish warships – as many as the years since the invasion of Cyprus – will sail to the occupied ports in Megalonis, accompanying the Turkish president Erdogan. The ministry even published a video of warships, with the provocative phrase: “Don’t call me so heartily, I might come suddenly one night”, threatening a new invasion!
Cyprus: Ankara sends 50 warships to the occupied territories – “I may come suddenly one night”
Half a century has passed since the day Turkish Attila’s forces occupied 37% of the Cypriot territory, but Ankara’s policy has not changed. Quite the opposite! Now it threatens to occupy the sea area around Megalonissos, defiantly violating every concept of international law. Without even the Turkey to be a party to UNCLOS (1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), which contains the definition and procedure for declaring and delimiting EEZs.
The “Blue Homeland”
Ankara is now focusing its energy policy within a broader geopolitical strategy to strengthen Turkey’s status as a regional power based on its geographic location and connections. At the heart of this strategy is a grand plan to establish Turkey as a major natural gas hub, putting the country at the center of regional energy trade.
Ankara’s strategy is expressed in the doctrine of the “Blue Homeland”, aiming at the neo-Ottoman restoration of maritime Turkish influence in the world.
Turkey’s goals are clear: increasing influence in its distribution and transmission plans natural gas of the Eastern Mediterranean, hindering in every way the Greek Cypriot system of energy cooperation.
The doctrine’s intimidating approach is functional for Ankara, to reverse the unfavorable dynamics inherited by Erdogan, after years of Kemalist indifference to the maritime dimension of the state, and consequently to claim a leadership role in the region.
Turkish public opinion, in the wake of Erdogan’s “century of Turkey” narrative, has even shown enthusiastic support for a vision aimed at restoring the state’s greatness, even without knowing the details in depth, as Constantine says. Philis, director of the Institute of International Affairs (IGA).
The deposits of Cyprus
The second Turkish “Attila”, combined with the so-called “Blue Homeland” doctrine, this time aims at the very important deposits of hydrocarbons that have been discovered within the territorial waters and EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus. In total, five natural gas fields discovered in the Cypriot EEZ bring Cyprus’ estimated reserves to 400 to 600 billion cubic meters. Natural gas discoveries in the 2000s and 2010s have transformed the Eastern Mediterranean region, offering European countries a potential alternative, non-Russian source of natural gas. It is estimated that Israel, Egypt and Cyprus could together supply up to 300 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Europe, for 15 to 20 years.
“Tool” the pseudo-state
Ankara is trying to exploit the pseudo-state in occupied northern Cyprus as a “tool” to get its hands on the deposits of the Republic of Cyprus.
Since 2011, Ankara has even not hesitated to sign an agreement with the pseudo-state to “delimit the respective continental shelves” in order to start exploration and drilling through TPAO, the Turkish national hydrocarbon company.
Most provocatively, the 2011 agreement assigns Turkey certain internationally recognized areas as part of the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus, for the exploitation of energy resources in marine “plots” numbered 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Furthermore, the pseudo-state in northern Cyprus claims the right to exploit the resources of “plots” 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12 and 13, with operations often outsourced to TPAO.
“Turkey, not only has not signed the UNCLOS convention, but also claims rights based on its continental shelf, seriously violating Cypriot rights,” emphasizes Simon Henderson, an energy expert at the Washington Institute. “Apart from Ankara, the rest of the world recognizes Cyprus as an independent country, with the government in Nicosia having sovereignty over its entire territory,” he continues. “Such recognition infuriates Turkey, which has been steadily increasing its assertive presence within the island’s EEZ.”
It is therefore clear why Erdogan and Ankara are not going to back down from the “two-state solution” in Cyprus. A “solution” first formulated in 2020 by Erdogan, when he understood the importance of natural gas deposits in the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Turks and Erdogan categorically reject the withdrawal of the occupying army from Cyprus. On the contrary, they claim by various means the acceptance of the presence of the Turkish occupying troops by the international community. Namely, the legalization of the crime of 1974 and the occupation army.
In any case, the eastern Mediterranean will remain a turbulent theater of tension due to Ankara’s claims. It remains to be seen to what extent Turkey will be able to maintain these positions against international law, without provoking the wrath of the international community and especially the European Union.