Gas dispute in the Mediterranean

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The gas dispute in the Mediterranean Sea is a conflict over fossil submarine resources, mainly natural gas , off the coast of Cyprus . Conflicts over access between the EU (particularly the Republic of Cyprus and Greece ) and Turkey have arisen since the 2000s . The gas dispute is part of the Cyprus conflict as well as the border conflict between Greece and Turkey .

The drilling vessel Saipem 12000 was deployed in February 2018 on behalf of the energy company ENI in Area 3 of the Cypriot EEZ. However, ships of the Turkish Navy prevented the Saipem 12000 from approaching the area.

geology

In a 2010 study, the US Geological Survey put 3.45 trillion m³ (122 trillion cubic feet ) of natural gas and 270 million m³ (1.7 billion barrels ) of oil in the Levantine Basin . The natural gas stored in this sea basin in the Levantine Sea could meet the energy needs of the countries directly bordering on it, including Syria , Israel , Lebanon and Cyprus, for many decades. The largest known of these natural gas fields up to 2013 is the Leviathan in Israel at 510 billion m³ (18 trillion cubic feet) , while the US Energy Information Administration gives an estimate of 200 billion m³ (7 trillion cubic feet) for the Aphrodite natural gas field in Cyprus .

Initial geopolitical situation

Since a conflict in 1974 that culminated in the landing of Turkish forces as part of Operation Atilla , the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been divided into a Greek-speaking south - the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004 - and a Turkish-occupied north - exclusively owned by Turkey recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - divided (see Cyprus conflict ).

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UN) defines an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for coastal countries , which extends beyond the territorial waters of a country. According to this, a state in a 200-mile zone has the sole right to exploit natural resources. Under international law , the entire island is still subject to the Republic of Cyprus. This means that the entire EEZ is part of the Republic of Cyprus.

However, Turkey has never signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Turkey argues that islands have no EEZ, so it considers its gas exploration to be legitimate. Instead, Turkey sees the coastline of the mainland mass in the eastern Mediterranean as crucial. On this basis, the Turkish government claims part of the sea area as its EEZ and thus also the gas deposits there, since in its view they are located on the Turkish continental shelf . Turkey demands that the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus share in the revenues from the gas reserves.

The difficult nation-state constellation around divided Cyprus and the complex maritime law make the legal assessment of the situation difficult. The gas exploration fields around Cyprus are all south of the island. There are territorial conflicts around the northwestern sections of these fields. The discovery of large natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean had an impact on the already existing conflicts between the neighboring countries as a whole. In addition to the Cyprus conflict, this also includes the historical border conflict between Greece and Turkey and the Middle East conflict .

development

Representatives of Greece, the Republic of Cyprus, Israel and Egypt met in mid-January 2019 for a first dialogue forum on a future pipeline for natural gas export, the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Pipeline ; According to initial plans, the route is to start in the Egyptian offshore gas fields and end in the EU. Representatives of Jordan , Italy and the Palestinian Authority also took part , but not Turkey.

In the years up to 2019, the Cypriot government in Nicosia signed subsidy agreements with several large energy companies, including ExxonMobil , Total and Eni, for the production of natural gas in their waters. The Turkish government denies that representatives of the Republic of Cyprus can conclude contracts for use throughout the Cypriot EEZ.

Turkey sent three drilling and research vessels to the Cypriot EEZ in the summer of 2019 . The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis had granted the Turkish Cypriots a right to mineral resources. This act has been classified as illegal by the EU. Attempts by the head of government of the Turkish Cypriots , Mustafa Akıncı , to settle the dispute were unsuccessful. He suggested that both Cypriot states should jointly explore and excavate mineral resources . The United Nations should oversee the relevant committee and the EU should monitor the process. Turkey supported this proposal.

In July 2019, the EU foreign ministers imposed punitive measures against Turkey in the form of cuts in EU funds and a freeze on negotiations on an air transport agreement. In November 2019, the EU foreign ministers also created a legal framework for sanctions against persons, companies or institutions involved in the Turkish drilling in the Mediterranean; assets could be frozen and data subjects could be refused entry into the EU. In February 2020, such sanctions were imposed on individuals for the first time in the gas dispute.

In August 2020 , Turkey sent the research vessel Oruç Reis to the region near the Greek island of Kastelorizo to look for gas deposits there. It was accompanied by several warships of the Turkish Navy . In response, France, in solidarity with Greece, increased its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean. In mid-August 2020, the EU foreign ministers once again asked Turkey to immediately stop exploring Greek waters, to which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan replied that concessions would never be made to one's own land, sovereignty and interests; Turkey will take what it is entitled to. The German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tried to mediate with a visit to Ankara and Athens . In September 2020, the Oruç Reis completed the exploration.

Against the background of the gas dispute, Greece, France, Italy , Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates began a joint military exercise in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Crete in August 2020. The side of France and Italy in favor of Cyprus resulted from the already concluded subsidy agreements between Cyprus and the French company Total and the Italian company Eni. The participation of the Emirates on the other hand is due to the different interests in the civil war in Libya .

On August 28, 2020, after a meeting of the foreign ministers of its member states , the European Union announced sanctions through its foreign representative Josep Borrell if Turkey did not give in. These could be imposed at the EU special summit on September 24th. The aim is to end activities that the EU regards as illegal. "We list personalities, we may have access to certain assets or ships," said Borrell. A ban on the use of EU ports or sanctions that are important for Turkey's energy supply can also be pronounced.

On August 29, 2020, Turkey announced in a special message to the shipping industry that a two-week naval maneuver with target practice was starting northwest of Cyprus.

At the end of September and beginning of October 2020, Turkey and Greece agreed on a mediation mechanism that, among other things, provides for a hotline to prevent military incidents. After the Turkish exploration ship Oruç Reis had completed its explorations in September, it resumed its explorations in the eastern Mediterranean in mid-October 2020 amid Greek protests and criticism from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell . The deployment is planned until the last week of October. [outdated]

After a five-year break, Greece and Turkey resumed exploratory talks on January 25, 2021 to resolve the natural gas dispute. The 61st round of talks between the delegations from both countries took place in the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The EU had previously threatened Turkey with new sanctions if it allowed the conflict to escalate further.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michele Kambas: Standoff in high seas as Cyprus says Turkey blocks gas drill ship . In: reuters.com. February 11, 2018, accessed July 18, 2019.
  2. ↑ James Stocker (2012): No EEZ Solution: The Politics of Oil and Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean . Middle East Journal. Vol. 66, No. 4 (Autumn 2012), pages 579-597 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23361618
    U.S. Energy Information Administration: Overview of oil and natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean region . In: eia.gov. August 15, 2013, accessed July 18, 2019.
  3. ↑ Michael Lehmann: EU advises on sanctions against Turkey. . In: tagesschau.de . July 15, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b EU threatens Turkey with new sanctions. In: sueddeutsche.de. July 13, 2020, accessed August 25, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c Cyprus and Turkey: Who is right in the dispute over gas? In: zeit.de. July 16, 2019, accessed July 17, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Karin Senz: Threats, facts, compromise proposals. In: tagesschau.de . July 15, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019.
  7. ^ A b Dominik Peters, Maximilian Popp, Christoph Sydow: Monopoly in the Mediterranean. In: spiegel.de . July 14, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ James Stocker (2012): No EEZ Solution: The Politics of Oil and Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean . Middle East Journal. Vol. 66, No. 4 (Autumn 2012), pages 579-597 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23361618
  9. ^ Tony Chavez: Things Are About to Change: Oil and Gas Have Been Found in the Eastern Mediterranean. In: nationalinterest.org. March 10, 2019, accessed July 17, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b Turkey will drill for gas until Greek Cypriots accept plan: minister . In: reuters.com . July 14, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019.
  11. ↑ EU decides punitive measures against Turkey for natural gas drilling . In: derstandard.de . July 15, 2019, accessed July 18, 2019.
  12. ↑ Controversy over mineral resources: Natural gas drilling off Cyprus: EU decides on new Turkey sanctions. Retrieved August 25, 2020 .
  13. ^ France supports Athens in the gas dispute with Turkey. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved August 25, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Dispute over gas and oil reserves: France wants to increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean. In: faz.net. August 13, 2020, accessed August 25, 2020 .
  15. ↑ EU calls for stopping Turkish search trips in the Mediterranean. In: zeit.de. August 16, 2020, accessed August 25, 2020 .
  16. ↑ a b Erdoğan does not want to make “any concessions” in the gas dispute. In: spiegel.de. Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Christoph Schult: Natural gas dispute in the Mediterranean: Maas warns Athens and Ankara of the intensification of the conflict. In: spiegel.de. Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Turkish research ship “Oruc Reis” back in Antalya. Der Spiegel, September 13, 2020, accessed on September 13, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Courier - Fighter Jets and Ships: The coalition against Erdoğan is getting bigger , accessed on August 29, 2020
  20. ↑ EU threatens Turkey with new sanctions in the gas dispute . Wiener Zeitung , August 28, 2020.
  21. ↑ Gas dispute: Turkey begins maneuvers off the coast of Cyprus . Handelsblatt, August 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Greece and Turkey agree on an arbitration mechanism - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved October 1, 2020 .
  23. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: EU condemns deployment of Turkish gas exploration ship - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved October 13, 2020 .
  24. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: New provocation with "Oruc Reis": Turkey extends gas exploration mission in the Mediterranean Sea - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved October 22, 2020 .
  25. ^ Ankara and Athens negotiate in natural gas dispute , ORF, January 25, 2021.