2014-11-06 11:49:07
The showdown between Cyprus and Turkey is a reminder that energy can fuel tensions rather than lubricating better relations.
BY KEITH JOHNSON
The increasingly shrill dispute between Turkey and Cyprus over access to offshore gas fields tidily illustrates that the global scramble for energy resources is raising regional tensions everywhere, particularly in the fractious Eastern Mediterranean, where energy is more an irritant than a balm for international relations.
What's more, the fight between Ankara and Nicosia over who owns the subsea energy riches south of Cyprus sticks yet another burr under the extremely uncomfortable saddle of U.S.-Turkey relations, which are already strained by Turkey's refusal to fully cooperate in the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State.
"Energy issues that come on top of existing political, diplomatic, and military issues can indeed exacerbate disputes," said Michael Leigh, the director of the Eastern Mediterranean energy project at the German Marshall Fund, who has studied the dispute.
The latest trouble all started at the end of September, when Eni, the Italian firm, and its Korean partner Kogas, got to drilling an exploratory well inside Cyprus's exclusive economic zone. Previous explorations of the area suggest there could be 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas tucked away under the sea. Successfully tapping that reserve is a big part of tiny Cyprus's goal of one day supplying energy to Europe and Asia.
But Turkey, which backs a breakaway Turkish enclave on the island's north, had other ideas. Last month, it dispatched its own exploration vessel, escorted by a pair of Turkish warships, to shadow the drilling operations.
Περισσότερα Foreign Policy
InfoGnomon
BY KEITH JOHNSON
The increasingly shrill dispute between Turkey and Cyprus over access to offshore gas fields tidily illustrates that the global scramble for energy resources is raising regional tensions everywhere, particularly in the fractious Eastern Mediterranean, where energy is more an irritant than a balm for international relations.
What's more, the fight between Ankara and Nicosia over who owns the subsea energy riches south of Cyprus sticks yet another burr under the extremely uncomfortable saddle of U.S.-Turkey relations, which are already strained by Turkey's refusal to fully cooperate in the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State.
"Energy issues that come on top of existing political, diplomatic, and military issues can indeed exacerbate disputes," said Michael Leigh, the director of the Eastern Mediterranean energy project at the German Marshall Fund, who has studied the dispute.
The latest trouble all started at the end of September, when Eni, the Italian firm, and its Korean partner Kogas, got to drilling an exploratory well inside Cyprus's exclusive economic zone. Previous explorations of the area suggest there could be 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas tucked away under the sea. Successfully tapping that reserve is a big part of tiny Cyprus's goal of one day supplying energy to Europe and Asia.
But Turkey, which backs a breakaway Turkish enclave on the island's north, had other ideas. Last month, it dispatched its own exploration vessel, escorted by a pair of Turkish warships, to shadow the drilling operations.
Περισσότερα Foreign Policy
InfoGnomon
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