ANKARA: Turkey has signed a $350m deal on drilling 40 oil wells in the southern Iraqi Basra area and is in talks with Baghdad on drilling 7,000 wells across Iraq, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said yesterday. Details of the timeframe or companies involved were not immediately available.
Turkey’s growing energy involvement in Iraq comes despite tensions with Baghdad over Ankara giving refuge to Iraq’s fugitive Vice President Tareq Al Hashemi, who was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for a second time on Thursday.
Iraq has also asked Turkey to stop attacking Kurdish rebel forces sheltering across the border in northern Iraq, a Kurdish autonomous region over which Baghdad has little control and with which Ankara has forged close ties in recent years.
“We are continuing work with the central government on opening 7,000 wells across Iraq as a whole,” Yildiz told a news conference in the Turkish capital.
He also told reporters talks were being held with the Turkish treasury on holding initial public offerings (IPO) for state-owned oil firm TPAO and state pipeline company Botas, with a TPAO offering planned first.
Separately, Yildiz warned that the government would review Italian energy firm ENI’s investments in Turkey if it went ahead with plans to explore for natural gas in Cyprus. Cyprus said on Tuesday that it would start negotiations with ENI, South Korea’s Kogas, France’s Total and Russia’s Novatek on the potential development of natural gas fields off the Mediterranean island. Turkey, which has been at diplomatic loggerheads with Cyprus for decades, claims the island has no authority to explore for gas offshore.
Turkey has threatened to intervene militarily if the Greek Cypriots continue with their gas exploration plans. The increasingly bitter dispute is now threatening to involve Israel. But the deepening row is now being seen as part of Ankara’s aspirations to become a regional power.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Cypriot Leader Dervish Eroglu (L) attend a signing ceremony in New York on September 21, 2011 for a deal for offshore gas exploration in the Mediterranean
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is continuing to ratchet up tensions with Cyprus over its exploration for gas and oil in the Mediterranean. On Wednesday he launched another attack both at Nicosia and the wider international community.
“Greek Cyprus is acting provocatively by drilling, and the institutions whose mission is to protect peace remain silent, he said. Is this the way to solve problems?” Erdogan asked.
Ankara claims any exploration by Nicosia must be done in cooperation with the Turkish Cypriot government, which only Turkey recognizes. That stance has been dismissed by the E.U.
Mr. Erdogan has threatened to send warships to the region, as the diplomatic row continues to deepen. But International relations expert Cengiz Aktar of Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University says Ankara has more than Cyprus in its sites.
“I don’t think its just about Cyprus, it is indeed a show of force and muscle,” said Aktar. “The government feels very confident, even over confident and would like to challenge in particular the state of Israel in the eastern Mediterranean. But do they really know how to go for it, that’s another matter.”
The Israeli dimension
Ankara is a waging a diplomatic war against its former ally Israel over its killing last year of Turkish activists seeking to break Jerusalem’s blockade of Gaza. Since then, Israel has built closer ties with the Greek Cypriot government, signing a protocol last year to explore for energy in the Mediterranean sea.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Selim Yenel acknowledges the dispute with Cyprus involves Israel, too.
“We have heard that there is discussion to have a joint Israeli and Greek Cypriot area. Well that means that there has to be more discussion on this we cannot just accept it unilaterally,” said Yenel.
Greek International relations expert Ioannis Grigoriadis of Ankara’s Bilkent University says such a powerful ally as Israel has emboldened the Greek Cypriots in its stand against Turkey.
“I think they do rely on a kind of Israeli support for the completion of the oil and gas exploration in southeast Mediterranean,” Grigoriadis said. “It appears there is some confidence that Turkey would not be willing to take risk of engaging in a hot conflict with Israel in the southeast Mediterranean.”
Nicosia threatens EU veto
For now neither side appears ready to back down. Nicosia has countered, threatening to veto Turkey’s EU membership bid, but that is seen as empty threat as Ankara’s bid is already at a virtual standstill.
Former Turkish diplomat Sinan Ulgen and a visiting scholar at international diplomacy organization Carnegie Europe, says the present crisis is a sign of Ankara’s new ambitions and the challenge those ambitions present to its western allies.
“This transformation from almost a compliant member of the western community, making Turkey a full EU member, to a assertive ambitious regional power is what we are seeing today,” said Ulgen.
Mr. Erdogan has successfully reached out across North Africa and the Middle East, in his support of the Arab spring. The Turkish Prime Minister has also indicated his country may enforce sanctions against Syria in line with its western allies tough stance against Damascus in its crackdown on dissent.
But observers question whether Mr. Erdogan is aware of the limits of his country’s robust regional foreign policy. Political scientist Aktar.
“Turkey was ignoring superbly the Middle East since 1923, and is discovering the region now. It’s a new comer. Its lack of institutional memory, academic memory does not have enough human resources that really understand and know the region,” said Aktar. “And apparently takes every opportunity to show its force. Show of force is fine, rhetoric is ok. But those who show force, should also know where to stop. Especially to stop short of firing.
Few people are predicting that the present crisis between Turkey and Cyprus will escalate into a full-blown conflict. But with Ankara backing its tough rhetoric with a commitment to an increase naval presence in the region, that risk still remains.
via Is Cyprus Gas Row Feeding Turkey’s Regional Ambitions? | Europe | English. VOA
Amidst growing concerns about the escalation of Turkish-Israeli tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Ankara’s decision to undertake seismic exploration for oil and gas – in retaliation for the Greek Cypriot administration’s ongoing exploration activities – further raised tensions in the region. Recently, the Greek Cypriots issued a license to a US firm, Noble Energy, to launch exploratory offshore drilling for gas off Cyprus. Turkey condemned immediately this development, viewing it as an attempt to undermine the rights of Turkish Cypriots. Moreover, since the resumption of reunification talks on the island has recently reappeared on the agenda, Turkey believes this move will be potentially damaging to further diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict. Therefore, the Greek Cypriot side should avoid such unilateral provocative actions, and delay discussing drilling projects until after a political solution to the existing division is found (Hurriyet, September 13).
Later, Ankara went as far as issuing warnings that it would undertake its own exploration work and boost its military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, should the Greek Cypriots proceed with their plans. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz also added that the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), in cooperation with a Norwegian firm, was preparing to carry out seismic surveys off Northern Cyprus. To this end, Turkey started talks with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to conclude a continental shelf delineation accord to determine the areas for exploration (Anadolu Ajansi, September 19).
Despite Ankara’s threats of retaliation, the first phase of Noble’s drilling activities started on September 18. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted harshly to this development, adding that Turkey would dispatch naval and air force assets to the area. While in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Erdogan raised the issue during his talks with President Barack Obama. More significantly, he signed the continental shelf agreement with the leader of the TRNC, Dervis Eroglu. Erdogan argued “to caution international oil/natural gas companies that have and will undertake business with Greek Cypriots. Our Ministry of Energy is working to ban admission of these companies from energy projects in Turkey and impose a series of sanctions upon them” , September 21). The Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias described Turkey’s actions as provocations and sought to highlight the issue during his address at the UN General Assembly (Hurriyet, September 23).
In a demonstration of determination, a Turkish ship set off for seismic exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean sea, escorted by frigates and submarines (www.haberturk.com, September 23). As the issue was internationalized and risked militarization, especially coinciding with the UN General Assembly, efforts were made to cool down the tensions. While the Greek side seemed disinterested in Erdogan’s proposal for the simultaneous renouncement of the exploration work, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also intervened to resolve the dispute. As a more concrete proposal, Eroglu presented to Ban Ki-moon another plan which would involve mutual suspension of such exploration (Anadolu Ajansi, September 25). While Ankara expressed support for this proposal, the Greek Cypriot side has yet to accept it.
A promising step toward achieving a diplomatic solution was the telephone conversation between Erdogan and his Greek counterpart Yorgo Papendreu. While discussing the agenda for the next high level strategic cooperation council, the two leaders expressed their desire to address bilateral tensions (Anadolu Ajansi, September 26). However, in the absence of any concrete steps by the Greek Cypriots to halting their exploration plans, Yildiz said that the Turkish seismic exploration ship will start its operations today (September 27). Yildiz also added that the TPAO was in touch with the firms interested in carrying out drills in partnership with Turkey (Cihan, September 27).
Exploration of the underwater energy resources around Cyprus has been a matter of controversy for some time, as it has been intermingled with the unresolved Cyprus issue and, by implication, Turkey-EU relations. The EU admitted into membership the government on the Greek part of the island as the sole representative of the Republic of Cyprus in 2004, but Turkey has protested against this decision because it ignored the rights of Turkish Cypriots who established the TRNC as a separate state. Turkey remains the only country to recognize the TRNC, though the Turkish government has supported talks for the reunification of the two communities on the island. However, at least since the collapse of the Annan plan in 2004, which was backed by Turkey, there is a line of thought in Turkish politics that views a two state-formula as the most viable solution for the Cyprus dispute. If the current tensions continue to escalate, with each side carrying out unilateral drilling projects, this development might de facto pave the way for a two-state solution. Whether the Turkish government has moved in the direction of adopting such a position remains to be seen.
At the same time, Ankara’s refusal to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration’s claim for full sovereignty over the island poses a major obstacle to the Turkish bid for EU membership, further complicating the issue. Turkey has sought to delay the exploration of energy resources by linking it to the resolution of the dispute, which has angered the Greek Cypriot side. For instance, in protest over what it viewed as Turkey’s veiled threats against exploring their energy resources in the Mediterranean, the Greek Cypriot administration has been vetoing the opening of the Turkish-EU accession talks in energy and other chapters. As Turkey reacts to such policies, Turkish-EU relations have already become deadlocked.
Only recently, Erdogan threatened to freeze Turkey’s relations with the EU, if the Greek Cypriot government is allowed to assume the EU presidency in 2012 before a political settlement is found on the future of the island (Anadolu Ajansi, July 20). Such statements by Turkish leaders continue to present obstacles to Turkey’s EU accession process, which is already stalled due to numerous issues. However, Ankara’s brinkmanship over the drilling issue shows that it is increasingly unconcerned with the EU’s negative reactions, perhaps indicating the degree to which Turkey is keen to pursue unilateral policies in the Eastern Mediterranean.
