Yesterday, Foreign Ministry of Turkey summoned the envoys of Greece, Israel and the EU in the ministerial office to give them note about the special permission, which their countries have to get. 

The official information within the diplomatic meeting reflected the electricity project carried out jointly by these three countries in the Mediterranean passes through the Turkish continental shelf and the need to get permission from Turkey to lay cables there.

Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Irfan Kaya, a professor of international relations at the Kocaeli University, has commented on the joint electricity project carried out by Greece, Cyprus and Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to him, the diplomatic note is a natural consequence of the concept of Blue Homeland Defence symbolising Turkey’s rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

“This concept reflects Turkey’s right to extend its land in the continental shelf under the sea, and Ankara wants the whole world to accept it. For the opinion of Turkey, the continental shelf is determined on the basis of official decisions,” Irfan Kaya said.

“But Greece claims that the islands are also continental shelves,” he added.

Turkish expert pointed out that in the decisions of the International Court of Justice, the continental shelf of the islands is considered legitimate if the state consists entirely of the island.

“Turkey seems to have engaged in conflict with the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece on this issue. However, Turkey protects its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean with seismic surveys and drilling vessels. Helicopters and warplanes also accompany the activities of these ships,” he said.  

He also noted that Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration urges the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey in this regard.

“To adopt such a decision by the EU could lead up to the worsening of relations with Turkey. Therefore, the EU will not follow such policies. Germany supports Turkey's stance on this issue or is implicitly alongside Turkey,” he stressed.

In addition, Irfan Kaya touched upon the issue of Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline, in which Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, Egypt and Israel want to gain benefit.

“Countries including Israel, Egypt, Southern Cyprus and Greece want the 3.45 trillion cubic meters of natural gas discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean to be transported to Europe via the EastMed - Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline to be built with EU support. The power line is intended to be laid in the area where the future pipeline will be built. The cost of this project is over $ 10 billion. They want all the money to be covered by the EU. However, the natural gas produced will be inadequate and much more expensive than alternative gases coming from different places to Europe. Despite this, Greece and Southern Cyprus continue to put pressure on the EU,” he said.

Turkish expert noted that it is impossible to lay power cables or gas pipelines in the Eastern Mediterranean unless Turkey gives permission.

“For a solution of the problem, whether the International Eastern Mediterranean Conference or the International Court of Justice will be applied. They try to put pressure on Turkey. This is a matter of national litigation that Turkey brought into the case. Under the current circumstances, it does not seem possible to reach a compromise. There are two ways out of it.  First, to give up the Eastmed project and the second is the acceptance of Turkey to the EU,” he added. 

by Yunis Abdullayev