Category: Cyprus/TRNC

Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades seem to be playing Russian Roulette, just like Makarios did in the pre 1974 days.

Russian naval exercises in the eastern mediterranean are no good omen for the already heated region! Particularly considering that Anastasiades has left the peace negotiations, this can only be seen as an adventure which can only bring further disasters to Cyprus.

Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades with Vladimir Putin

RUSSIA’s decision to hold navy exercises in waters east of the island on Monday, the same day Turkey intends to send its seismic research vessel into Cypriot offshore blocks, is no coincidence, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said yesterday.

Speaking to the public broadcaster from Milan, Christodoulides said: “Nothing is by chance in politics.”

He made the comments after President Nicos Anastasiades met Russian President Vladimir Putin late on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan.

The two leaders sat next to each other for two hours during an official dinner for visiting heads of state and government, hosted by the Italian President, current rotating head of the EU Presidency.

According to Christodoulides, the two men had an extensive discussion on EU-Russia relations, bilateral relations and the Cyprus problem, with emphasis on Turkey’s decision to issue a NAVTEX reserving large swathes of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for seismic studies, resulting in Anastasiades suspending peace talks.

“President Putin reaffirmed the Russian position of principle with regard to both the solution of the Cyprus problem and the inalienable right of the Republic of Cyprus to exploit its natural resources within its EEZ, and characterised any violation of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus as unacceptable,” said the spokesman in a written statement.

Speaking later to CyBC, the spokesman said the two leaders had a “very good discussion”. Putin was well aware of what was going on in Cyprus’ EEZ regarding Turkey’s unprecedented decision to announce seismic research and possible drilling south of Cyprus, in blocks already licenced to Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS.

“He knew about the positions of Nicosia within the EU regarding discussions on sanctions against Russia,” said Christodoulides, in reference to Cyprus’ efforts to dampen enthusiasm for wide-reaching sanctions against Moscow within the European Council over its activities in eastern Ukraine.

The two leaders agreed to stay in contact, said the spokesman, adding that a lot of discussion was had at a European level with Russia on relations between the two sides.

“Moscow recognises the constructive and balanced role played by Cyprus. So, we will see the developments within that framework, and then depending, proceed with an exchange of visits,” between Anastasiades and Putin, said Christodoulides.

The four-day Russian navy drills will be taking place inside the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR) in a reserved area stretching from off Cape Apostolos Andreas in the occupied northeastern tip to the coast of Syria.

“We were informed from the first moment by the Russian side. We’re talking about the Nicosia FIR, so the Cyprus Republic had to be informed.”

A joint Cyprus-Israel search and rescue exercise in Cyprus’ FIR is also scheduled for next Tuesday.

The seating arrangements at the Milan dinner will likely become the subject of much discussion back home, as the president’s relations with Moscow have recently come under heavy fire from opposition parties.

According to reports, the government actively sought a meeting with Putin at the summit.

Anastasiades came under a barrage of criticism last week for his Westpolitik – realignment of foreign policy to sit unreservedly in the ranks of the west, particularly under the leadership of the United States. Opposition parties argued this came at the expense of traditional relations with Moscow, which has always been willing to help Cyprus change the odd word or sentence in a UN Security Council Resolution, or even use its veto.

Condemnation from the opposition heightened after the US issued a lukewarm response to Turkey’s stated intention to search and drill for gas south of the island, off the Limassol coastline.

The government may have pointed to diplomatic activity taking place behind the scenes, but the presidential palace’s disappointment was palpable at the lack of firm vocal support from the US.

It’s likely that the ongoing siege by Islamic State forces against Syrian Kurds in Kobani, and Ankara’s calculated game of brinkmanship regarding possible intervention, depending on the establishment of a safety zone and no-fly zone in north Syria, has been the US State Department’s main priority at present.

The announcement of the Russian naval exercise would have given the Cypriot government something tangible to present to the public, however, since beyond its bark, Nicosia has little to bite with.

It remains to be seen whether dinner with Putin marks a return to the island’s traditional Ostpolitik or whether Anastasiades will ride the storm and continue investing in a future under the umbrella of western influence.

ON THE sidelines of the ASEM Summit, Anastasiades also held separate meetings yesterday with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Discussion focused on Turkey’s intention to violate Cyprus’ sovereign rights at a time when ENI-KOGAS is in the process of drilling in its offshore block 9 concession.

During the meetings, Cyprus’ sovereign rights were reaffirmed, as was the need for uninterrupted drilling within its EEZ.

The spokesman said all the president’s interlocutors responded very positively. “Nobody can justify Turkey’s intentions. More so for those states that have particularly sensitivities in the eastern Mediterranean. They are more concerned than Scandinavian countries, you can understand why, because there is more concern in our region regarding Turkey’s intentions.”

  Küfi Seydali

 

Italy has protested to Ankara over the latter’s actions in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone, the Cyprus News Agency said.

CNA said Italy was particularly displeased by Turkey’s decision to reserve a large section of sea in Cyprus’ EEZ for seismic studies- cutting through five blocks, including block 9 where Italian-South Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS is currently drilling for gas

The move has led Greek Cypriot Leader Nicos Anastasiades to suspend direct negotiations in the reunification process.

Anastasiades will raise the issue of the Turkish provocations during his meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the 10th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) which is taking place in Milan.

CNA said Anastasiades will meet, among others, with the President of the European Council and the Italian Prime Minister, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, but also with leaders of Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Anastasiades is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  Küfi Seydali

Comment by KS :

What on earth does Italy has to do with Cyprus? Cyprus belongs to Greek and Turkish Cypriots! The dispute can only be solved by the two sides and not by greedy Italians who are after a piece of the cake! The Italians just like the EU has forgotten that the 50 years old Cyprus problem has not yet been solved. The way the Greek side is going on, it is also not likely that it will ever be solved.

THE ‘WITHDRAWAL’ of  Nicos Anastasiades from the talks reminds one of the well-known saying from the Cypriot vernacular, that “the anger of the peasant is a loss to his pocket.”

It also reminded me of a simple-minded character from the 1970s called Takis. He was a very likeable chap who would walk the streets of Nicosia carrying his belongings in many bags and was generally known as “Takis who throws his things”.

Takis had a paranoid fear of the police and we, being nasty teenagers, would cruelly tell him that we would call the police to arrest him. At the uttering of the word ‘police’, poor Takis would fly into a rage, cursing and shouting at us – “You rascals, if you annoy me again I will throw all my things.”

We would wind him up again – just like the Turks have been doing to us with the seismic ship Barbaros – and a furious Takis, cursing and crying, would open one bag after the other and empty the contents, which included cups, containers, worry-beads, keys, clothes and trinkets, on to road.

The road would be filled with Takis’ things and traffic would stop. We would then run away and the hapless Takis would collect his things and put them back in the bag.

Back to the talks. Someone asked me, what Anastasiades wanted. The answer: he just found a pretext to stop the talks’ procedure. He has become just like Christofias and Papadopoulos – he does not want a settlement, any settlement.

He wants, like his predecessors, the perpetuation of the status quo because this ensures that he remains seated in the presidential chair.
It was no accident that he wasted a whole year after his election, without making any move about the Cyprus problem.

Nor was it a coincidence that the proposals he submitted to the other side contained the insane demand that the Greek Cypriot community would elect the Greek Cypriot president and Turkish Cypriot vice president.

The man is trying to destroy all possibility of an agreement, presumably because only the continuation of the status quo would ensure he holds on to the presidency, at least until 2018.

This is the only rational explanation for the foolish decision he took, amid much fanfare, with the rest of our political dwarves. At the time of writing, there was no information that Turkey had declared a day of mourning or its President Erdogan was inconsolable because Anastasiades had decided to withdraw from the talks.

Dervis Eroglu responded to the decision on the same day. He said: “We want them to return to the talks. But if they do not want to return, we will not force them back.”

This is Anastasiades’ achievement – allowing Eroglu to mock us. Of course, in a few days, his self-delusion that the Americans and Europeans will force Turkey’s ship out of our EEZ will be exposed.

There are two possibilities now. First Turkey would find an excuse to justify an even bigger intervention in our EEZ. Ankara would tell anyone who made representations the following: “As we have been saying all along, the Greek Cypriots want everything for themselves. Anastasiades said that after a settlement the revenue from the natural gas would be shared by everyone in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots do not want a settlement and have quit the peace process. But the drilling for gas continues which shows that they want it all for themselves.”

Second, foreign countries that have become fed up of our antics could turn round and tell us, “We have had enough and do not care whether you quit the talks.”

If they do not say this, they will explain to Anastasiades that for as long as he boycotts the talks, Turkey has a pretext to step up the gas explorations in Cyprus’ EEZ and that his only option is to return to the talks.

In which case, Anastasiades will have to grudgingly swallow his pride and pick up his things, just like Takis used to do.

 

  Küfi Seydali

 

The two yellow areas are those reserved by Cyprus and the extended block closer to the island is the area Turkey has reserved

 

UN SPECIAL Adviser Espen Barth Eide yesterday expressed sympathy over the trials and tribulations of coastal states claiming their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) but issued a stark warning not to expect the international community to do anything about it.

UN Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide

In an interview with public broadcaster CyBC, Eide discussed the situation which arose after Turkey issued a navigational telex (NAVTEX) last Friday, reserving a sizeable area of Cyprus’ EEZ south of the island for seismic studies from October 20 to December 30.

This prompted President Nicos Anastasiades to announce on Tuesday the temporary suspension of direct peace talks. The special adviser described the latest development as “a very serious situation”.

Turkish Cypriot Leader Eroglu together with Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades.

He said: “I fully understand why President Anastasiades is reacting to this. I come from Norway, it’s a coastal state, we were very instrumental when the Law of the Sea Convention was set up, so of course, I do have strong sympathy for all the coastal states when they make their claims, and also exercise their rights.

Eide was clear on what one can expect from the international community in such instances, given his own experience as foreign minister when dealing with long-running negotiations with Russia regarding their respective EEZs.

“Even back in the Cold War, our experience was that there was limited support from the outside world when we had maritime disputes or disagreements or issues with other states. The tradition, in general, is that other countries are careful to take positions when countries are in disagreement over those issues,” he said.

“So, in that sense, I think maybe there’s been an assumption that there’ll be an outcry of support from the international community which is simply not what the international community normally does.”

Eide added that many key countries had recognised Cyprus’ right to declare, exploit and explore its EEZ as being embedded in international law.

But they are also encouraging people on all sides to show restraint and try to work quickly to defuse the situation and move towards a settlement, “because a settlement would clearly solve the issue”, he said.

Asked about Anasastiades’ decision to suspend direct talks, Eide described it as “a strong reaction” within context of Greek Cypriot politics and reality.

“And of course, I understand that President Anastasiades needs political backing for what he’s about to do, which is to enter into the most serious phase of the negotiations which he’s still committed to do, but it has to be in political circumstances which makes that possible. So I respect that decision.”

Eide said if the delay in direct meetings lasts a few weeks, the two sides will be able to catch up and rebuild the dynamic started around a month ago: “However, if it lasts for months, I’m much more concerned that it will be more difficult to come back to where we were.”

In an interview with Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis yesterday, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said the Greek Cypriot side was left with no choice but to suspend its participation in the talks.

“The week that the new process of substantive talks would start, Turkey considered it appropriate to show, unfortunately, a totally contradictory stance, the path of provocations instead of constructive and positive engagement.”

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu accused Anastasiades of sabotaging the process, adding that Turkish Cypriots also had rights to Cyprus’ natural wealth.

Democratic Party leader Serdar Denktash went so far as to argue the rights of Turkish Cypriots were currently “under occupation” by the Greek Cypriots.

According to a Russian foreign ministry announcement, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov and Anastasiades’ special envoy to Russia Sotos Zackheos yesterday discussed the situation “regarding the EEZ around the island”.

The statement concluded: “Unilateral actions, the show of force are unacceptable, and entail risks of deterioration of the situation, not only in Cypriot affairs, but also in the wider region of the eastern Mediterranean.”

Greece’s foreign ministry yesterday accused Turkey of “provoking tension”, describing its refusal to recognise Cyprus’ legal and sovereign rights as a “sad paradox”.

This was not the first NAVTEX issued by Turkey inside Cyprus’ EEZ but it is the first one encroaching inside Cypriot blocks, including three that have already been licenced to Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS.

Cyprus carved up the southern part of its EEZ into 13 blocks, awarding concessions to American and Israeli consortium Noble-Delek (block 12), France’s Total (blocks 10 and 11), and ENI-KOGAS (blocks 2, 3 and 9).

The latter began exploratory drilling in its Onasagoras field in block 9 late last month, expected to last three months, after which three more drillings are scheduled to take place.

Until now, Turkey would send its Barbaros research vessel to areas west and east of the island, weaving in and out of Cyprus’ EEZ, but never inside one of the delineated blocks.

Turkey’s latest NAVTEX, however, reserves a large contiguous area, spreading across blocks 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9, for seismic research.

In another first, the Turkish foreign ministry explicitly stated its intent to conduct drilling operations for hydrocarbons south of the island.

A quick look at a map shows that Turkey has brazenly reserved a massive area for seismic research right between ENI’s drilling site and the southern Cypriot coastline.

Even if one were inclined to afford legitimacy to the breakaway regime in the north, which Turkey does, there is no feasible way to argue the area reserved by Turkey is part of a hypothetical EEZ of the occupied areas.

Given that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots consistently argue there is an independent entity north of the island, Ankara’s latest move under the belly of the island suggests motives not relating to the rights of Turkish Cypriots, but to Turkey’s own desire to have a clear, dominant say in the exploration and exploitation of Cypriot hydrocarbons, particularly where the gas ends up and how it gets there.

  Küfi Seydali

 

 

Greek Cypriot  Leader Nicos Anastasiades (R), Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu (L), and the United Nations envoy for Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide (C), leave their meeting at a UN compound in  Nicosia, Cyprus,.

 

U.N. envoy Espen Barth Eide on Oct. 8 urged Greek Cyprus and Turkey to take steps to ease tensions over the divided island’s energy search, warning that it could harm the peace process.

Greek Cyprus on Oct. 8 suspended its participation in U.N.-led peace negotiations in protest over moves by Turkey to undermine its right to exploit gas and oil reserves.

Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Dervis Eroglu had been due to meet Thursday inside the U.N.-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia.

“I think it’s very important now that everybody acts responsibly and avoid further escalation,” Eide told reporters after meeting Wednesday with Anastasiades, president of the internationally-recognised Republic of Cyprus.

The Norwegian diplomat said an understanding had to be reached “as soon as possible” to ensure the island’s energy resources are shared between all Cypriots.

Anastasiades’s government has not clarified whether the peace process would be put on hold indefinitely, only saying that it was taking “legal and diplomatic” steps against Turkey’s “hostile action” in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone.

But the envoy said that without a solution the energy issue will remain a source of conflict. “Oil and gas can be either a blessing or curse,” said Eide.

“If it is well managed it will be a source of wealth for all Cypriots, if it becomes a source of tension it will be a problem for everyone and then it will be more of a curse than a solution.” Eide said it was up to the leaders when they start the peace talks.

“I cannot force people to meet but I hope that it will be soon, (and) while they are not meeting I will keep talking to both.”

Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting it with Greece. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey.

Ankara opposes Nicosia’s exploitation of offshore hydrocarbon reserves before any peace deal, but is itself determined to search for oil and gas in an area the Cypriot government has licensed exploratory drills.

The Greek Cypriots argue that the failure to reach a settlement should not mean such projects are put on hold.

Italian-Korean energy consortium ENI-Kogas began deep sea drilling off Cyprus for possible gas last month in a second block to undergo exploratory tests since the first find in 2011.

U.S. firm Noble Energy made the first find in the Aphrodite field, which is estimated to contain 102 billion to 170 billion cubic metres (3.6 trillion to six trillion cubic feet) of gas.

Government officials in Nicosia say Ankara, which does not recognise the zone, has announced that a Turkish seismic vessel would carry out a survey in the same area as ENI-Kogas’s platform from mid-October.

Ankara has also threatened to boycott energy firms operating off Cyprus, while in the past Nicosia accused it of “gunboat diplomacy” by harassing international ships involved.

  Küfi Seydali

Turkish Cypriot Leader Dr. Devish Eroglu has met with Parliamentarian’s Platform. All TRNC Party Leaders have condemned the Greek move of leaving the negotiating table. They have unanimously asked that the Greek side return to the negotiating table in the search of a lasting solution to the 50 years old Cyprus conflict.