Cyprus to raise Turkey’s gas pipeline to occupied northern Cyprus with EU — Cyprus Mail

Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos will raise with his European Union counterparts in Luxembourg the issue of Turkey’s planned underwater gas pipeline to the occupied north of Cyprus. He arrived in Luxembourg to take part in a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Cypriot authorities’ position

Cyprus Mail reports that Kombos intends to bring the matter up for discussion at the EU Council.

The project returned to the spotlight in May, when it was announced by Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. Talks in Ankara were attended by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Unal Ustel, whom the publication calls the “prime minister” of northern Cyprus. Ustel called the pipeline a project of the century.

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Pipeline parameters

The approximately 97-kilometre pipeline is expected to be laid along the seabed of the Levantine Sea from Alanya on Turkey’s southern coast to Kyrenia. It is planned to be commissioned by 2028, with the estimated cost of the project standing at €601 million.

Northern Cyprus has stated that this route could enable the supply to Europe via Turkey of gas discovered in the eastern Mediterranean. Ustel also said that an intergovernmental agreement is being prepared to move the project into the investment phase.

The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, ENTSO-E, has noted that the only interconnector project linking the Republic of Cyprus in its plans is the Great Sea Interconnector between Cyprus, Greece and Israel. The Cypriot government stresses that its energy planning is based on international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.