Turkey and Cyprus to go to war?
Is Turkey about to attack Cyprus and possibly Greece? After today's events, you have to wonder.
On Friday, Turkey sent a seismographic vessel to look for oil and gas deposits within Cyprus economic exclusion zone. Turkey had already deployed a warship south of Cyprus, and
the announcement sent tensions soaring.
On Friday, October 3, a day after US Vice President Joe Biden pontificated
about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “desire” to have “no
Turkish soldiers” remain in Cyprus, Turkey sent Turkish-Greece-Cyprus
tensions soaring by issuing a Navigational Telex, or NAVTEX, according
to which Turkey was sending a seismographic vessel to explore areas in
the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Cyprus's southern waters.
...
According to the Cyprus Mail and other Cypriot news sources,
the NAVTEX notifies mariners and countries that Turkey, as a sovereign,
is reserving areas south of Cyprus for seismic surveys from October 20
to December 20 of this year. Turkey has basically issued a stark warning
Cyprus, America and Israel that Turkish exploratory vessels were under
Turkish sovereign protection, and were not to be disturbed even though
they were exploring in areas south of Cyprus, an action that Turkey had
never taken before.
Prior to this NAVTEX, the Eastern Mediterranean was already tense due
to the fact that the Turkish armed forces had deployed the Turkish
warship TCG Gelibolu to the south of Cyprus, and had further announced
that the warship would continue to monitor the activities of Italian
firm ENI’s drillship in block 9 in the waters south of Cyprus.
The TCG Gelibolu is participating in an ongoing Turkish Naval
operation, dubbed “Mediterranean Shield.” Under Operation Mediterranean
Shield, Turkish ships are ostensibly “conducting maritime security
operations to provide for the safe and secure movement of vessels at sea
and to deter terrorism.”
In fact, the TCG Gelibolu could be setting the stage for actual armed hostilities.
...
Making matters worse, the Turkish NAVTEX designated and reserved
coordinates that would trespass into Cyprus’ Southern water EEZ Blocks
1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. These are the blocks roughly between Cyprus and
Israel. Inside sources told the Cyprus Mail that “essentially Turkey has
bisected the region between Cyprus’ southern coast and Egypt, as if
Cyprus does not exist.”
In response, earlier this evening, Cyprus suspended reunification talks with Turkey and Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
A government spokesman in Nicosia said President Anastasiades'
decision was the result of Turkey's "provocative" and "aggressive"
actions to start seismic tests off the island's southern coast later
this month and that the plan was a "serious breach" of its sovereign
rights as well as the rights of its own drilling consortium, consisting
of Italy's Eni and South Korea's Kogas in the EEZ Block 9.
"The least I can say is that negotiations, in order to produce
results, cannot be conducted under such conditions of provocation," said
Ioannis Kasoulides, the Cypriot foreign minister, on Monday.
The looming danger is Turkish Frigate Gelibolu is currently deployed
in the same areas that the Turkish NAVTEX has cordoned off for the
Turkish gas exploration ship, which is set to enter the Cyprus EEZ
blocks on October 20. If these two Turkish ships should act in tandem,
this could be the tinder which could set the area aflame.
בימים ההם אין מלך ... איש כל הישר בעיניו יעשה.
(In those days, there was no King... each man did what he saw fit - translation from the book of Judges).
Barack Obama chose to degrade the United States' capabilities to the point where the world no longer has a (Western, democratic) superpower. And now the rest of the world is doing whatever it wants.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Cyprus, Greece, oil and gas exploration, Turkey, Turkish occupation of Cyprus
Syrian warplanes test British air defenses, flee
Two Syrian warplanes tested British air defenses at the Akrotiri air base in Cyprus on Monday, but
turned around and fled when British Typhoon warplanes were scrambled in response.
The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar al-Assad’s air
chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe our air defences.
The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK’s Akrotiri air base to contact them.
RAF
pilots flying the world’s most advanced combat jet were scrambled
before the Sukhois could enter our 14-mile air exclusion zone.
The
Typhoons – which can scream from runway standstill to seven miles high
in 90 seconds – soared into the sky to make visual contact with the
Syrian pilots.
But the moment the Syrians spotted our planes on their radar they high-tailed for home.
If the bombers had pressed on into our exclusion zone they would have been shot down, military experts said last night.
...
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The MoD can confirm that
Typhoon air defence aircraft operated from RAF Akrotiri on Monday to
investigate unidentified aircraft to the east of Cyprus.
“The aircraft were flying legally in international airspace and no intercept was required.”
The
UK air base at Akrotiri is packed with US and French warplanes ready
to strike Syria when President Obama gives the go-ahead.
A military source told the Sunday People: “Recent intelligence reports have warned of an attack
on Akrotiri.
“The
RAF Typhoons were launched after sensitive airborne early-warning radar
picked up the ‘contacts’ flying low and fast.” The British typhoons are
part of a squadron of six sent to Cyprus to guard our bases there as
the Americans prepare for an attack.
A Navy Type 45 anti-aircraft
destroyer is also sitting off Cyprus to provide early warning of Syrian
fighters or missiles launched against the island.
Two French Navy Atlantique spy planes have also been moved to RAF Akrotiri.
Hmmm.
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Britain, Cyprus, Syrian army
Coming to a country near you?
If you're going to hide money overseas, you should at least do so in a country that's stable enough not to pull
a stunt like this.
Cyprus and its international lenders have agreed to convert 47.5
percent of deposits exceeding 100,000 euros in Bank of Cyprus to equity
to recapitalize it, banking sources said on Sunday.
Under a programme agreed between Cyprus and lenders in March, large
depositors in Bank of Cyprus were earmarked to pay for the
recapitalisation of the bank. Authorities initially converted 37.5
percent of deposits exceeding 100,000 euros into equity, and held an
additional 22.5 percent as a buffer in the event of further needs.
"There was an agreement concluding at a final figure of 47.5 percent
this morning," a source close to consultations told Reuters.
I doubt anyone is ever going to deposit money in Cyprus again. I wonder if the lenders would behave the same way with respect to Spain or England.... You see, this bailout was actually imposed on them by the
European Union's finance ministers.
According to a recent blog by Paul Krugman, the decision imposed by EU finance ministers to force depositors in Cyprus to take a loss, in order to help fund an International Monetary Fund and euro zone bailout, on their deposits may potentially cause a bank run
in other EU countries. Depositors in Spain and Italy and elsewhere may
become concerned that they will also lose their funds and withdraw ahead
of any such impositions. Other economists at leading banks, including
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, have voiced similar concerns.
Ouch.
Labels: Cyprus, European Union, financial crisis, International Monetary Fund
Cyprus to build LNG terminal for three Israeli oil companies
At its Vassiliko marina on its southern coast, the government of Cyprus has agreed to build a liquified natural gas terminal for Israel's
Noble Energy, Delek and Avner oil exploration companies (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with Noble Energy International Ltd, Delek Drilling Limited Partnership
and Avner Oil Exploration Limited Partnership to build the LNG plant
near the Vassiliko energy hub on the island’s southern coast that will
process the output from offshore gasfields within the Cyprus exclusive
economic zone (EEZ), as well as from neighbouring Israeli and even
Lebanese gasfields for export.
Noble is currently conducting a second appraisal well within the
‘Aphrodite’ Block 12 on the south easternmost tip of the Cyprus EEZ,
adjacent to the Israeli EEZ where Noble, Delek and Avner are already in
the process of exporting natural gas output from the Leviathan field.
The U.S.-based exploration and energy exporter hopes to have a concrete
estimate of the size and value of Block 12 by early 2014. Initial
estimate suggest that the block may contain an average of 7 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas.
Energy, Trade and Tourism Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said that the
agreement for the LNG plant will be signed by the end of this month.
Of course, there's almost no chance Lebanon will participate, at least so long as Hezbullah holds a veto in its government. But that's just fine....
Labels: Cyprus, natural gas, Noble Energy, oil and gas exploration
'Without Israel, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia are toast'
Defense strategist Mark Langfan argues that the United States isn't doing Israel any favors by declaring it a 'major strategic ally.' Langfan argues that if Israel were not where it is, the continued independent existence of
Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and possibly even Greece could be endangered.
"Without Israel, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia are toast," Langfan told Arutz Sheva, "and they know it."
"Without Israel, oil would be $1,000 a barrel. Without Israel, the US
would have to fund an extra $200 billion yearly defense budget to
defend southern NATO countries from a Muslim caliphate's northward
tsunami."
Following reports of an AIPAC initiative to secure special "strategic
ally" status for Israel, Middle East security analyst Langfan said,
"Without Israel’s order of battle and very existence, it would be
impossible for NATO to defend Greece, let alone Cyprus, from a
Turkish/Muslim Brotherhood tidal wave which would lay waste to
everything in the eastern Mediterranean.
Whether NATO likes it or not,
Israel is a now the heart and soul of NATO’s southeastern flank.”
Langfan also noted that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan issued a
direct threat on NATO when he warned on September 27, 2011, "I recommend
the international community take the necessary lessons from the Battle
of Preveza.”
The Battle of Preveza was a 1538 decisive Turkish/Ottoman naval battle against a Papal “Holy League” Pan-Christian Alliance.
“NATO and the entire EU now have an absolute vested interest against
the establishment of an autonomous Palestinian state in the 'West
Bank,'" Langfan added. "It has become abundantly clear that if such a
state was in existence Hamas would smuggle in thousands of Katyusha
rockets with chemical warheads that have the power to wipe out the
entire Tel Aviv coastal plain that holds 5 million Jews – in one
evening."
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Cyprus, Greece, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, US-Israel relationship
Cyprus bomb plotter admits he's Hezbullah
A Lebanese Swede, who was arrested last summer and charged with plotting to attack Israelis and other Jews in Limmasol, Cyprus, has admitted that - what a surprise -
he's a member of Hezbullah. The case may have ramifications for European efforts to declare Hezbullah a terror organization. Cyprus is a member of the European Union.
The Cypriot authorities accuse Yaacoub of plotting an attack against
Israeli tourists on the island in July. Yaacoub faces eight charges in
the criminal court in the city of Limassol. He is charged with
membership in a criminal organization and conspiracy in "carrying out
missions in any part of the world, including the Cyprus Republic,
against Israeli citizens," among other charges.
The Cypriot authorities reduced 17 terrorism-related charges down to
eight charges in October. The Jerusalem Post learned that Yaacoub said
at today’s proceeding that Hezbollah is a political organization and he
has knowledge of weapons but he came to Cyprus without Hezbollah
connections. The purpose of his visit to Cyprus was business. Yaacoub
did, however, say he met with a Hezbollah operative who covered his
face. It is unclear if the meeting with the Hezbollah operative took
place in Cyprus, Lebanon or Sweden.
Yaacoub said he arrived in
Cyprus with no intention to carry out a terror attack. The prosecution
is slated to cross-examine Yaacoub on Thursday. The court case may run
until March 7 and a verdict is anticipated in mid-March. The Cyprus
verdict could have significant implications for the EU’s decision making
process to label Hezbollah a terror entity. Bulgarian Interior
Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov attributed the Burgas bus explosion to
Hezbollah operatives, which resulted in the deaths of five Israelis and
their Bulgarian bus driver in July.
The reason why Europe is finding this so difficult is that so far Hezbullah has only targeted Israelis and other Jews.... If 'ordinary Europeans' were being targeted, they would have much less problem deciding that Hezbullah is a terrorist organization.
Labels: Cyprus, designated terror organization, European Union, Hezbullah
Attack on Israeli tourists in Cyprus thwarted
An attack on Israeli tourists in Cyprus was apparently thwarted with the arrest last week of a
Lebanese national carrying a Swedish passport, it was reported on Saturday.
The 24-year-old man, thought to be a Swedish passport holder of Lebanese extraction, was arrested on July 7 and was being detained following remand hearings held behind closed doors, Sigma TV reported. He has not been charged with any offense.
Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said: "We can confirm the arrest of a 24-year-old foreign national for specific, serious offenses, and who is in custody by order of the court."
It was not the first time that a Lebanese-Swedish national has been accused of plotting attacks against Israeli targets. In January, Thai authorities arrested Hussein Idris, a Lebanese-Swedish national together with another Lebanese man on suspicion that they were plotting a series of bomb attacks against Israeli targets in Bangkok.
Due to the attacks, Israeli diplomats have been on high alert amid predictions that Hezbollah is trying to avenge the assassination in 2008 of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh, which it attributes to the Mossad.
Sigma TV's web portal reported the man had been tracking the movement of Israeli tourists on the island, while Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros said he was attempting to pinpoint areas frequented by Israeli tourists and the buses they used.
as you might imagine, Cyprus is now a very popular tourist destination for Israelis since we don't go to Turkey anymore. It's about an hour and a half flight from here.
Labels: Cyprus, Islamic terrorism
Turkey conducts unauthorized naval maneuvers off Cyprus
The Israeli, British and Turkish navies conducted maneuvers off the coast of Cyprus on Thursday. But there was a difference between them. While Israel and Britain had the approval of the Cypriot government to conduct their maneuvers,
the Turks most definitely did not have that approval.
Cypriot media reports claimed that Israel and Great Britain asked and received permission from Cyprus to hold their maneuvers but that the Turkish navy did not, and as a result Nicosia was considering submitted an official complaint to the United Nations.
...
IDF sources could not confirm the reports but the navy announced earlier this week that it was increasing its patrols in the Eastern Mediterranean to protect gas fields that Israel is planning to begin extracting from within the coming year.
In addition, the navy is looking to secure an NIS 3 billion budget to purchase new surface vessels it claims to need to effectively patrol and protect the new economic waters.
Greek Foreign Ministry Spokesman Gregory Delavekouras said Thursday that Turkey’s naval maneuvers were a violation of Cypriot sovereignty.
"The constant efforts of Turkey to question the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus as well as to offend European institutions, such as the EU Presidency, need to be put to an end. It is a wrong perception that leads nowhere,” Delavekouras said at a briefing in Athens.
Coincidentally, Greece’s navy commander Vice Admiral Kosmas Christidis wrapped up a four day visit to Israel on Thursday during which he met with OC Navy Vice Admiral Ram Rothberg and sailed on a Sa’ar 5-class missile ship.
Complaining to the UN is a waste of time. Much stronger action is needed.
Labels: Britain, Cyprus, Israel, oil and gas exploration, Turkey, Turkish occupation of Cyprus
Hmmm.... Israeli fighter jets exercise over Nicosia, Cyprus
Turkey's
Today's Zaman reports that Israeli fighter jets
exercised over Nicosia, Cyprus on Sunday (link in Turkish, Google translation
here, Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Greek radio RİK foreboding, Israel's warplanes to exercise "the Nicosia FIR," a portion of the line between the hours of 10:00 to 14:00 hours today, "bound" announced.
Abstains from exercise to confirm that the news of the Greek Defense Minister Dimitris İliadis'in specified, İliadis'in "if the exercises are made, this means that Israel is allowed," he was transferred to used. According to the news Iliadis, this "sensing based on international law and respect the principles of the Greek Administration, could be included in the framework of the cooperation with various countries' claims.
My enemy's enemy is my friend. Heh.
Labels: Cyprus, Greece, IAF
What a difference a well makes
Walter Russell Mead writes that Israel's natural gas and oil discoveries are already starting to make
a difference in how the Jewish state is treated, and things should only improve in the future.
Israel and Canada have just signed an agreement to cooperate on the exploration and development of what, apparently, could be vast shale oil reserves beneath the Jewish state.
The prospect of huge oil reserves in Israel comes on top of the recent news about large natural gas discoveries off the coast that have been increasingly attracting attention and investor interest. The apparent gas riches have also been attracting international trouble. Lebanon disputes the undersea boundary with Israel (an act somewhat complicated by the fact that Lebanon has never actually recognized Israel’s existence), and overlapping claims from Turkey and Greece themselves plus both Greek and Turkish authorities on Cyprus further complicate matters. Yet despite these tensions, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprisingly cordial visit last week, Gazprom and Israel have announced plans to cooperate on gas extraction.
This suggests at a minimum that Turkish efforts to block gas development in the region will face opposition from Russia as well as from Israel. Gazprom and other Russian companies are also likely to do well in any gas exploration deals developed with the strongly pro-Moscow (and very cash hungry) Greek Cypriot government.
...
The new Israeli-Russian agreement is part of a conscious strategy by the Israeli government to use its nascent energy wealth to improve its embattled political position. With Italy reeling under the impact of big wrong-way bets on Iran, Rome may also begin to appreciate the value of good ties with a closer and more dependable neighbor. Another sensible target for Israeli energy diplomacy would be India: the two countries are already close in a number of ways, including trade and military technology, and India is eager to diversify its energy sources.
Gas is one thing, but potential for huge shale oil reserves under Israel itself, however, is a new twist. According to the World Energy Council, a leading global energy forum with organizations and affiliates in some 93 countries, Israel may have the third largest shale oil reserves in the world: something like 250 billion barrels. (The US and China are both believed to have larger shale oil reserves, with the US believed to have the equivalent of well over 1 trillion barrels of potentially recoverable shale and China having perhaps one third of that amount. Canada’s Athabaskan oil sands reserves may contain the equivalent of 2 trillion of barrels conventional oil, or more than all the conventional oil known to exist in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran combined.) If the estimates of Israeli shale oil are correct, Israel’s gas and shale reserves put its total energy reserves in the Saudi class, though Israel’s energy costs more to extract.
Wouldn't it be funny if the only way that the Arab Muslims could influence world oil prices would be by undercutting everyone else's oil that is more expensive to produce?
And guess who the big loser is?
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, oil and gas exploration, Russia
Cyprus detains Iranian foreign minister
Cyprus briefly
detained Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi on Thursday.
Cyprus authorities detained Iran’s foreign minister at the Larnaca Airport because his name appeared on an EU sanctions list barring Iranians who are involved in the country’s nuclear program.
The Cyprus Mail daily reported on Thursday that Ali Akbar Salehi was held up for a “few minutes” and stayed in a VIP room at the airport.
The EU had previously placed Salehi on its sanctions list barring travel to Europe because he was the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEIO) from July 2009 to December 2010.
The EU waived this designation once he became foreign minister.
It's a pity that they didn't keep him.
Labels: Ali Akbar Salehi, Cyprus, Iranian nuclear threat
Israeli ambassador to Cyprus expelled from energy forum by local organizers
Israeli ambassador to Cyprus Michael Harari (right, with Cypriot Defense Minister Demetris Eliades) was
expelled from an energy forum in Cyprus after the Lebanese Energy Minister refused to speak with an Israeli present (Hat Tip:
Sunlight).
Israeli Ambassador Michael Harari, attend the Energy forum by special invitation, he came to the place - the University of Cyprus - around 10 am.
At 11.15, on schedule, President Christofias arrived with Gebran Bassil, Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Resources.
According to the agenda - which had been established in advance - Christofias was to give a keynote speech, followed immediately by Bassil, whose address about the future of Lebanon as an energy producer.
Just before the President took a step inside the room, attendees - delegates from the industry and the media - had been asked to stand. It proved a false alarm, because people were asked to retake their seats and wait for the next cue up - which happened a couple of minutes later.
Meanwhile, it seems, Harari was approached by the organizers and asked to leave. He said the Lebanese minister informed them that he would not speak unless and until Harari left.
Once the ambassador of Israel left the room, Christofias and Bassil walked in.
Harari confirmed that he was asked to leave the local field at the insistence of the Lebanese Minister of Energy.
"It's a pity that it happened," he later told the news media.
"I decided to leave in order not to embarrass the president," he said, adding: ". The organizers should have handled it differently."
Ironically, one of the themes of the forum was the need for energy cooperation among the nations of the region.
As you might recall, there is a dispute between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime boundaries. Cyprus, however, is supposed to be on our side. Their kowtowing to Lebanon is inexplicable and ought to be met with a formal diplomatic protest.
Labels: Cyprus, Lebanese-Israeli maritime borders, Lebanon
Turks go off the deep end
Turkey's paranoia has reached new heights with a claim that
20,000 Israeli 'commandos' (as if we have that many to spare) are being deployed to protect Israelis running oil and gas drilling operations in 'Greek Cyprus.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias, met on Feb. 16 to discuss the two countries' joint ventures. Details of the talks between the two leaders were kept secret.
Anatolia cited a source it said was close to the Greek Cypriot government who reportedly said Christophias specifically asked Netanyahu to convince Israeli businessmen to halt their investments in Turkish Cyprus during the meeting.
Netanyahu reportedly offered during the same meeting to undertake all the expenses required to construct a gas plant needed to extract the natural gas found in the Mediterranean Sea, the report said. In exchange, Netanyahu asked that all the 10,000 personnel that would work at the plant be brought in from Israel with their families, which would increase the number to nearly 30,000.
The high number of Israelis in Greek Cyprus would present a security issue, which Netanyahu suggested be solved by sending as many as 20,000 Israeli commandos to safeguard both the Israelis and the natural gas plant, the agency said.
Israel's offer sought to place the personnel and commandos in Limassol in Greek Cyprus.
It's a good story, but I don't believe it.
Labels: Cyprus, oil and gas exploration, Turkish obsession with Israel
Turkish-Israeli dogfight over occupied northern Cyprus
A Turkish army website is claiming that an
IAF jet violated Turkish airspace over occupied northern Cyprus on Monday (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
An Israeli plane violated Turkish Cyprus airspace five times on May 14, Turkish army reported on its website.
The airspace violations reportedly occured between 11:05 a.m. and 12:49 p. m., and lasted a total of eigth minutes.
Turkish air forces blocked the Israeli plane as soon as it was spotted.
The incident was reported to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, according to Turkish army's website.
Hmmm.
Labels: Cyprus, IAF, Turkey, Turkish occupation of Cyprus
Gazprom to join Mediterranean energy hunt?
Russian energy giant Gazprom may be seeking to join the consortium
drilling for natural gas off Israel's and Cyprus' Mediterranean coasts (Hat Tip:
MFS - The Other News).
The Russians reportedly are interested in a partnership in the Leviathan field, the biggest gas zone found so far in Israel's exclusive economic zone. It contains an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of gas. The next biggest field is Tamar, which contains an estimated 8 tcf.
Officials in Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office say the discoveries could contain double the volume currently listed. They said the known reserves are worth $100 billion-$130 billion.
Israel's gas fields account for only a fraction of the energy riches believed to lie in the Levant Basin that stretches from Syria through Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt and includes the waters of the island of Cyprus.
The U.S. Geological Service reported in 2010 that the region contains around 122 tcf of natural gas as well as 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
If Russia joins, they might be seen as taking the side of Israel, Cyprus and Greece in a dispute with Turkey and Lebanon over natural resources.
Acquiring an interest in Israel's boom could be lucrative for Gazprom and extend its international reach. But Gazprom could also be buying into a hornet's nest of energy conflicts between regional rivals that could seriously impede development of gas fields that could transform the economy of the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey, determined to become the region's paramount power and at odds with Moscow over Syria, wouldn't look kindly on Russia muscling into its backyard on such a strategic level.
Such a development could further complicate disputes triggered between the region's states by the energy bonanza, heightening tensions from long-running conflicts in the volatile zone that until the big strikes off Israel was considered poor in natural resources.
Lebanon is at odds with Israel, with which it is technically still at war. Beirut claims Leviathan extends into its waters north of the Jewish state.
Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded in 1974 and seized the northern part of the island, which it proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and is recognized only by Ankara.
The island's southern sector remains under the control of Greek Cypriots whose government is recognized internationally.
Turkey, which broke a long-running strategic alliance with Israel in 2010, insists the Greek Cypriots have no authority to conduct a gas exploration program.
Israel and Cyprus, whose EEZs adjoin one another, said they plan to cooperate on gas production, jointly exporting to energy-hungry Europe via Greece.
Hmmm.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, natural gas, Russia, Turkey
Netanyahu to visit Cyprus on Thursday
It's just a 30-minute flight away, but no Israeli Prime Minister has ever been there. That's about to change.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will be visiting Cyprus on Thursday (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Netanyahu’s trip shows the degree to which relations with Cyprus, which until four years ago was considered among the most hostile countries to Israel in Europe, have dramatically improved.
Now, one diplomatic official said, Cyprus is seen as an important regional partner for Israel, and together with Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, it is viewed as a part of a regional alliance serving to counterbalance Turkey. As was the case with Greece, Israel’s ties with Cyprus began to blossom as Jerusalem’s relationship with Turkey deteriorated over the last four years.
Jerusalem sees Cyprus – geographically the closest European country to Israel – as a possible bridge to Europe, especially in regard to energy issues.
Energy, and possible cooperation on developing natural gas deposits in each country’s exclusive economic zones in the eastern Mediterranean, is expected to be among Netanyahu’s main topics of discussion during his visit.
There will be some seething Muslims in Ankara on Thursday. Heh.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Cyprus, Turkey
Israel beats Egypt to the punch on selling electricity to Europe
A new Israeli electrical plant being built in Ashdod is to be used to export electricity to Europe via Cyprus and Crete - and
the Egyptians are seething about it.
Calling the project Israel's "High Dam," after Egypt’s major Nile dam and electrical power station, the reports note that the project will receive joint European-American funding. The project will both aid Israel in reducing its dependence on gas imports and allow the Jewish state to export electricity to Cyprus and Europe.
The Israel Electric Company (IEC) and Greece's DEH Quantum Energy are expected to sign the MOU in a few weeks' time. This will lead to a feasibility study, which will be followed – if all goes well – by ratification of the project by the Israeli and Cypriot governments, in the course of 2012.
The cable will be 270 km. long. Another cable will connect Cyprus and Crete, which is part of the Greek electricity grid. An MOU for the longer cable has already been signed between Greece and Cyprus.
According to the Egyptian newspaper Rose al-Youssef, both former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and businessman Hussein Salem, owner of the company in charge of exporting Egypt's gas, who is currently a fugitive in Spain, knew about this project when they signed deals with the Israeli government.
The closeness of Israel to Cyprus and Greece helped make the High Dam project more feasible, since Israel will be linked to the Cypriot and Greek electricity networks with 53,000 kilometers of connections under the sea to European shores, and is later expected to extend for another 600 kilometers inside European territories.
The electricity generated by the High Dam will provide more than 10 European countries with an electric power estimated at 2,000 megawatts and will reach 4,000 megawatts by 2020.
Israel made information about the dam project available to the majority of European countries involved, but did not notify Egypt, Rose al-Youssef claimed.
Heh.
Labels: Ashdod, Cyprus, European Union, Israel Electric Corporation
Israel is NATO's first line of defense for Greece and Cyprus
American topographer Mark Langfan argues that
Israel is the only thing standing between Greece and Cyprus being attacked by Iran and Turkey in a bid to expand Islam across the Mediterranean.
Israel is NATO’s, and the West’s first, and only line of defense, against the Westward advance of the Iranian Caliphate or a Turkish resurrection of its Ottoman Empire. Turkey is trying to steal billions of dollars of Greek Cypriot and Israeli Eastern Mediterranean gas resources to fund billions of further Islamic Mediterranean military build-up.
...Without Israel’s Order of Battle protecting Cyprus’Southeastern Flank and Battle Space, with Turkish frigates and subs infesting the Southern Cyprus waters and cutting off any military reinforcements and with Haifa as Iran’s New Eastern Mediterranean Naval Base, Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes and even Greece will be lost to Turkey and the Iranian Shiite Caliphate. Iranian now-existing Shahib medium range
missiles (1000 miles) will range and cover southern Europe from their new bases in Yafo, Greater Iran. Greece will become indefensible. Iran and/or Turkey will be on Europe's doorstep.
And for those who would protest that
Turkey is a member of NATO, please consider this (Hat Tip:
Joshua I).
Langfan also noted that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan issued a direct threat on NATO when he warned on September 27, 2011, "I recommend the international community take the necessary lessons from the Battle of Preveza.”
The Battle of Preveza was a 1538 decisive Turkish/Ottoman naval battle against a Papal “Holy League” Pan-Christian Alliance.
Adding that, “NATO and the entire EU now has an absolute vested interest against the establishment of an autonomous Palestinian state in the "West Bank". It has become abundantly clear that if such a state was in existence Hamas would smuggle in thousands of katyusha rockets with chemical warheads that have the power to wipe out the entire Tel Aviv coastal plain that holds 5 million Jews - in one evening."
What could go wrong?
Labels: Cyprus, Greece, NATO, Turkey, Turkish occupation of Cyprus
Russia's other Mediterranean activity
I mentioned Russia's alleged (one of my friends has
expressed doubts) presence in
Syrian territorial waters. That's not all the Russians are doing in our region this week. I think you'll like their
other activities a bit better.
THE “Admiral Kuznetsov” class aircraft carrier is currently off the coast of Malta and heading for eastern Mediterranean from their base in the Barents Sea.
Informed sources have said that the Russian navy and Israeli military will hold joint exercises next week close to Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone.
The exercises are slated to begin on the 28th November and last a week.
Commentators say that Russia is determined to send the message that they have invested interests in the region and will secure them.
It is understood that the aircraft carrier is carrying 24-fixed wing planes and a number of helicopters. It has also been reported in the press that the Russian navy may request to use port facilities at Limassol.
Hmmm.
Labels: Cyprus, Israel Navy, Russia, Syria
Turkey caves
Turkey, which is not even a member yet, has
dropped its refusal to deal with the EU once Cyprus takes over its rotating Presidency next year.
Egemen Bağış, the state minister and Turkey's chief negotiator for EU affairs, said in televised remarks that Turkey will only avoid contact with the Greek Cypriot presidency.
“Our relations with the EU Commission and the EU Parliament will remain intact. We will just not sit across the same table as the term's presidency,” Bağış said.
Bağış's remarks follow earlier statements from Turkish leaders that Turkey will freeze its relations with the EU, if Greek Cypriots assume the EU presidency without any settlement in Cyprus being reached. Greek Cyprus, not recognized by Turkey, is scheduled to take over the EU presidency for six months in the second half of 2012.
Now,if only everyone would stop humoring them when it comes to their relationship with Israel.
Labels: Cyprus, European Union, Turkey
