There is no denying that “energy politics” has become
a significant part of the regional and global economy as well as geopolitics
and international relations in the last decades. While energy policy is about the manner in which a given entity (often
governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption[1],
energy politics refers to macro-political issues between states, international
organizations and large energy companies about the security, transportation and
the sale and pricing of energy resources. Finding
clean, cheap, uninterrupted and diversified energy resources for ensuring the
sustainable development has been one of the main principles of the countries in
general in the last decades. The core of the industry is for sure the discovery
of new energy resources. The energy and its efficient use is one of the
indispensable factors that influence the economic and social development in
today’s world. Within that framework, the reaching energy and continuously
ironing out this need is a matter of security rather than a necessity.[2]
Resources namely oil and natural gas come into forefront as the most demanded
natural resources in the world. As Kısacık points out; in a rapidly globalized
world, this has brought about the linking of supplier countries with the demand
centers via several transportation ways above all the pipelines.[3]
Oil and gas exploration activities in deep waters have
become much more evident in the second half of the 2000s, and the Greek
Cypriots also decided to join this adventure. In this first period,
although they have been flirting with many US-based energy companies, they did
not achieve starting exploration activities as a result of Turkish pressure.[4] Greek Cyprus later has
signed an agreement to delineate the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with Egypt
and Israel with a view to exploiting any possible natural gas and oil reserves
in its zone. A similar agreement has been signed with Lebanon but the Lebanese
Parliament has not yet ratified the deal.[5] As the Greek side completed the
necessary legal basis for drilling activities, the beginning of those
activities has become possible with the inclusion of the Noble Energy Company[6] in this equation.
Noble Energy as a growing energy company has become an important actor
regarding recent activities in the Mediterranean market. The company wants to
enhance its operations from Israel to Cyprus.
The Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus covers more than 70000 km2 and is
divided between 13 exploration blocks. The process of the establishment of
Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon Exclusive Economic Zones was held in Nicosia in 2010 with separate meetings between
each country. Cyprus and Israel as part of their wider cooperation
have agreed to start their gas explorations with a common American company,
specifically Noble Energy.
Cypriot and Israeli governments are discussing to export their natural gas
through the shipping of compressed natural gas to Greece and then to the rest of Europe or through a subsea pipelines starting
from Israel and then leading to Greece via Cyprus.
According to some experts, the shipping of compressed natural gas will be too
expensive in addition to the problems of safety that will be caused without
Turkey’s support to the project.[7] Moreover,
the United Kingdom also has a claim on part of the area resulting from its
sovereignty over its two base areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia) in Cyprus. The
treaty establishing the Republic of Cyprus specifically excluded any Cypriot
claim to the two maritime areas adjacent to the bases.[8]
Exclusive
economic zone between Israel and Cyprus as signed in Nicosia
The underlying reason of this eagerness of Greek
Cypriots and Israelis is also caused by the huge natural gas reserves of Tamar gas
field[9] near Israel which
was discovered in 2009. Apart from the 235 billion m3 of gas reserves in that
field, Leviathan is one of the biggest natural gas oil fields which have
recently been discovered, with its 450 billion m3 of gas reserves also having
increased the appetite of Noble Energy toward the region.[10] It is crucial to
indicate that 1.3 trillion m3 of gas reserves in these two fields corresponds
to more than half of Azerbaijan’s gas reserves.[11] In other words, with
further seismic research, the East Mediterranean region can possibly be the
second Caspian basin. Moreover, according to U.S. Geological Survey
predictions, there would be 3.5 trillion m3 of gas reserves equivalent to 20
billion barrels of oil in the East Mediterranean.[12]
However,
there are some problems related to the safe transportation of these resources
mostly because of political problems came to be known as Cyprus dispute. To
summarize from Wikipedia[13], the Cyprus dispute refers
to the result of the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey,
over the Turkish controlled
northern part of Cyprus. Initially, with the annexation
of the island by the British Empire, the “Cyprus dispute”
was identified as the conflict between the people of Cyprus and the British Crown regarding the Cypriots’ demand for
self-determination. The dispute however was finally shifted from a colonial
dispute to an ethnic dispute between the Turkish and the Greek islanders. The international complications of the
dispute stretch far beyond the boundaries of the island of Cyprus itself and
involve the guarantor powers (Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom alike), along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. With Turkey’s intervention into the island
(Cyprus Peace Operation) in 1974
because of a fascist military coup in the island aiming the annexation of
Cyprus with Greece and attacks towards Turkish Cypriots starting from 1963, Turkey
occupied the northern part of the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, and later upon
those territories the Turkish
Cypriot community unilaterally
declared independence forming the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983, a sovereign de facto
state that lacks international
recognition with the exception of Turkey, with which TRNC enjoys full
diplomatic relations.[14] After
the two communities and the guarantor countries have committed themselves in
finding a peaceful solution over the dispute, the United Nations have since
created and maintained a buffer zone (the “Green Line”) to avoid any further
inter-communal tensions and hostilities. This zone separates the Greek
Cypriot-controlled south from the Turkish Cypriot-controlled north.
In
2004, with a settlement plan for the unification of the island called the Annan
Plan (It as prepared by UN Secretary General of the period Kofi Annan and thus
was named after him), a new peace plan to revive the divided Cyprus Republic
was put into referendum on both sides of the island. The United Kingdom (as a
guarantor power) and the United States came out in favor of the plan. Turkey
also clearly signaled its support for the plan. The Greek government decided to
remain neutral. On 24 April, Turkish Cypriots endorsed the plan by a margin of
almost two to one. However, the Greek Cypriots voted against the plan, by a
margin of about three to one in a way to prove the difficulty of the problem
because of ultra-nationalism.
Referendum Result
|
Yes
|
No
|
Turnout
|
Turkish Cypriot Community
|
64.90 %
|
35.09 %
|
87 %
|
Greek Cypriot
Community
|
24.17 %
|
75.83 %
|
88 %
|
On 1 May 2004,
a week after the referendum,
Cyprus Republic joined the European
Union. Under the terms of accession the whole island is considered to be a
member of the European Union. However, the terms of the acquis communautaire, the EU’s
body of laws, have been suspended in the Northern
Cyprus. After the referendum, in June 2004, Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus became
an “observer member” country in the Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC) under
the name of Turkish Cypriot
State. Despite initial hopes that a new process to modify the rejected plan
would start by Autumn, most of the rest of 2004 was taken up with discussions
over a proposal by the European Union to open up direct trade with the Turkish Cypriots
and provide €259,000,000
in funds to help them upgrade their infrastructure. Promises given by the European Union were not
met and this decreased the credibility of the Union.[15] In addition, Greek Cypriots with the name of
Cyprus Republic began to represent the whole island in the EU and started to
use this issue in order to block Turkey’s accession to EU.[16] In October
2012, TRNC became an “observer member”
country of Economic Cooperation
Organization again under the name
of Turkish Cypriot State.
After the Presidential election in the south Cyprus in February 2013, a
liberal politician who supported the Annan Plan in the past, Nikos Anastasiades
(Anastasiadis) became the President of Cyprus Republic.[17]
Hopes for the unification of the island further increased since last week pro-settlement
social democratic Republican Turkish Party (CTP) has won the elections in TRNC.[18]
Turkish Foreign Minister also recently made a statement and by making reference
to the “either death or partition” slogan of Turkish nationalists in the past,
he said “either solution or partition” showing Turkey’s positive approach for
the solution of the problem although Turkish Cypriots faced with the unethical
and unequal treatment of European Union in regards to the Cyprus dispute only
few years ago.[19]
Cyprus Dispute will be at the top of the agenda for the upcoming days
while a peaceful settlement is not impossible to be realized due to the mutual political
and monetary gain for both sides concerning the issue in regards to developing energy politics in the region.
Assist. Prof. Dr.
Ozan ÖRMECİ
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
“Azerbaycan’da
100 yıllık doğalgaz var”, Rusya.ru,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.rusya.ru/Content/14759-Azerbaycan_da+100+y%C4%B1ll%C4%B1k+do%C4%9Falgaz+var.
-
“Cyprus
Dispute”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on
31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_dispute.
-
“Davutoğlu: Ya
Çözüm, Ya Taksim”, Uluslararası Politika
Akademisi, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/davutoglu-ya-cozum-ya-taksim/.
-
“Doğu Akdeniz’de
iki rakip proje”, Aydınlık, Retrieved
on 31.07.2013 from http://www.aydinlikgazete.com/mansetler/20835-dogu-akdenizde-iki-rakip-proje.html.
-
“Energy Policy”,
Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy.
-
“Eroğlu: Kıbrıs
Türk halkının geleceği, Rum tarafına endeksli tutulmamalı”, Kıbrıs Postası, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 http://www.kibrispostasi.com/index.php/cat/35/news/107308/PageName/KIBRIS_HABERLERI.
-
“Exclusive
economic zone”, Wikipedia, Retrieved
on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone#Cyprus.
-
Kısacık, Sina
(2012), “An Analysis on the Rivalry between the Global and Regional Powers on
the Transportation of Caucasia and Central Asian Hydrocarbon Resources”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/an-analysis-on-the-rivalry-between-the-global-and-regional-powers-on-the-transportation-of-caucasia-and-central-asian-hydrocarbon-resources/.
-
“Miqati Says
Cyprus Still Waiting for Lebanon’s Ratification of Maritime Border Agreement”, Naharnet, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/55215.
-
“Noble
Energy”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on
31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Energy.
-
Noble Energy web
site, http://www.nobleenergyinc.com/Home-4.html.
-
Örmeci, Ozan
(2013), “Güney Kıbrıs’ta Nikos Anastasiades Dönemine Doğru”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/guney-kibrista-anastiasides-donemine-dogru/.
-
Örmeci, Ozan (2013),
“KKTC’de Zafer Sosyal Demokrat CTP’nin”, Uluslararası
Politika Akademisi, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/kktcde-zafer-sosyal-demokrat-ctpnin/.
-
Özertem, Hasan
Selim (2011), “Energy Games in the East Mediterranean”, Turkish Weekly, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.turkishweekly.net/columnist/3569/.
-
Sanberk, Özdem
(2004), “KKTC ve Tutulmayan Sözler”, Radikal,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=135527.
-
“Tamar Gas Field”, Wikipedia,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamar_gas_field.
[1] “Energy Policy”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy.
[2] Sina Kısacık (2012), “An
Analysis on the Rivalry between the Global and Regional Powers on the
Transportation of Caucasia and Central Asian Hydrocarbon Resources”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/an-analysis-on-the-rivalry-between-the-global-and-regional-powers-on-the-transportation-of-caucasia-and-central-asian-hydrocarbon-resources/.
[3] For details see; Sina Kısacık
(2012), “An Analysis on the Rivalry between the Global and Regional Powers on
the Transportation of Caucasia and Central Asian Hydrocarbon Resources”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/an-analysis-on-the-rivalry-between-the-global-and-regional-powers-on-the-transportation-of-caucasia-and-central-asian-hydrocarbon-resources/.
[4] Hasan Selim Özertem (2011), “Energy
Games in the East Mediterranean”, Turkish
Weekly, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.turkishweekly.net/columnist/3569/.
[5] “Miqati Says Cyprus Still
Waiting for Lebanon’s Ratification of Maritime Border Agreement”, Naharnet, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/55215.
[6] Noble
Energy, Inc. of Houston, Texas, United States is the modern name of Noble Affiliates Inc., by which it was known through the 1990s,
and it is now an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with
almost US$3 billion in revenue at #660 on the 2007 Fortune 1000 list of the largest American
companies. In 1985, Noble Affiliates spun off its subsidiary Noble Drilling Corporation to shareholders, and that company in
turn went public by the early 1990s, and then became Noble Corporation, an S&P 500 company. In South America, the company operates in Argentina and Ecuador.
In Africa, Noble Energy operates
in Equatorial Guinea. And in Eurasia, it operates in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and China.
Noble is headquartered in the Greenspoint district and in Houston. For details
see; “Noble Energy”, Wikipedia,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Energy.
For company’s website see; http://www.nobleenergyinc.com.
[7] “Doğu Akdeniz’de iki rakip
proje”, Aydınlık, Retrieved on
31.07.2013 from http://www.aydinlikgazete.com/mansetler/20835-dogu-akdenizde-iki-rakip-proje.html.
[8] “Exclusive economic zone”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone#Cyprus.
[9] The Tamar gas field is a natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. The field is located in Israel’s exclusive economic zone, roughly 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Haifa in waters 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) deep. While there
have been small oil and gas discoveries in Israel over the decades, Tamar was
the first large-scale hydrocarbon
resource discovered in the country. It was also the
first gas discovery made in geological layers dating back to the Oglio-Miocene era in the up-until-then little-explored Levant basin of
the Eastern Mediterranean. Since Tamar’s discovery, large gas discoveries have
been made in other analogous geological formations of the same age in the
region. Since Tamar was the first such discovery, these gas containing
formations have become collectively known as Tamar
sands. For details see; “Tamar Gas Field”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamar_gas_field.
[10] Hasan Selim Özertem (2011),
“Energy Games in the East Mediterranean”, Turkish
Weekly, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.turkishweekly.net/columnist/3569/.
[11] “Azerbaycan’da 100 yıllık
doğalgaz var”, Rusya.ru, Retrieved on
31.07.2013 from http://www.rusya.ru/Content/14759-Azerbaycan_da+100+y%C4%B1ll%C4%B1k+do%C4%9Falgaz+var.
[12] Hasan Selim Özertem (2011), “Energy
Games in the East Mediterranean”, Turkish
Weekly, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.turkishweekly.net/columnist/3569/.
[13] See; “Cyprus Dispute”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_dispute.
[14] See; “Cyprus Dispute”, Wikipedia, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_dispute.
[15] “Eroğlu: Kıbrıs Türk halkının
geleceği, Rum tarafına endeksli tutulmamalı”, Kıbrıs Postası, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 http://www.kibrispostasi.com/index.php/cat/35/news/107308/PageName/KIBRIS_HABERLERI.
[16] Özdem Sanberk (2004), “KKTC ve
Tutulmayan Sözler”, Radikal,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=135527.
[17] Ozan Örmeci (2013), “Güney
Kıbrıs’ta Nikos Anastasiades Dönemine Doğru”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/guney-kibrista-anastiasides-donemine-dogru/.
[18] Ozan Örmeci (2013), “KKTC’de
Zafer Sosyal Demokrat CTP’nin”, Uluslararası
Politika Akademisi, Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/kktcde-zafer-sosyal-demokrat-ctpnin/.
[19] “Davutoğlu: Ya Çözüm, Ya
Taksim”, Uluslararası Politika Akademisi,
Retrieved on 31.07.2013 from http://politikaakademisi.org/davutoglu-ya-cozum-ya-taksim/.
.jpg)