Turkey issues NAVTEX for gas pipeline surveys to Cyprus — Cyprus Mail
Turkey has issued a NAVTEX navigational warning for planned seabed surveys in waters between its southern coast and Cyprus. The work will be carried out ahead of the planned construction of a gas pipeline to the island, and the warning will remain in effect from Monday through December 31.
As Cyprus Mail reports, the surveys are to be conducted by four vessels: Denar Pathfinder, Denar Echo, Denar Explorer and Kirici. Turkish authorities urged mariners passing through the work area to keep a safe distance from these vessels.
Parameters of the planned gas pipeline
Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities signed a memorandum on the construction of the gas pipeline on July 10. Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said at the time that the move would mark a historic turning point in cooperation between the two sides in the energy sector.
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According to Bayraktar, the pipeline is to run from Anamur in Turkey's Mersin province to the Teknecik power plant near Kyrenia. The project envisages two parallel pipes, each 56 centimeters in diameter. This, he said, will make it possible to transport natural gas in both directions — from Turkey to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Turkey. The total length of the pipelines will be 101 kilometers, 97 kilometers of which will run under the waters of the Levantine Sea.
Criticism from Cyprus and the EU
Cyprus' Permanent Representative to the UN Maria Michael, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, protested against the agreement. She stated that the memorandum violates international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus, and also has no legal force.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas in July called on Ankara to respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all European Union member states. Yilmaz responded that criticism, including from the Greek Cypriot side, only confirms that Turkey's actions are correct.
