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With regard to the energy issue, the same source stressed that Israel remains committed to its agreements with other states in the region, especially Greece and Cyprus.
By Kostis Konstantinou, TPS
The foreign ministers of Israel, Greece, and Cyprus will meet in Athens next Thursday, 13 March, to discuss the latest developments in the region and prepare the ground for the trilateral leaders’ conference expected to take place in Jerusalem in the first days of April, according to information cross-checked by The Press Service of Israel.
Energy, both its practical and political dimensions, will be high on the agenda of the discussions between Benjamin Netanyahu, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulides.
All three countries are currently working together as well as with other partners to ensure that energy projects in the area proceed smoothly.
Turkey’s resurgence in the region, its actions in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime and also the threats it is repeatedly making in relation to the Cypriot EEZ are all factors that the three countries, especially Cyprus and Israel, cannot afford to ignore, a senior government source in Nicosia told TPS-IL.
Asked whether Turkey’s increased role in the region has had an impact on relations between the three countries, the source said that this development has actually strengthened their ties.
Regarding the subject of energy, it went on to say that the aim is to cooperate in existing and future projects with countries that share common interests and principles for promoting these interests in accordance with international law.
“Turkey has always been a regional player,. However, it is a fact that its influence has increased as a result of the fall of the Assad regime and Ankara’s relations with the new state of affairs in Damascus,” TPS-IL was told.
However, the Cypriot source pointed out that Ankara’s increasing involvement is not necessarily seen in a positive light by many in the region and in Syria itself, which is why the country has not become a Turkish protectorate, as some had expected.
Instead, it said, Damascus is trying to develop a multi-faceted foreign policy, including with Cyprus, citing the recent visit of Cypriot Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos to Damascus, which particularly annoyed the Erdogan government.
When asked whether Cyprus, given its close ties with Lebanon, had conveyed any message from the Israeli side to Beirut, after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Turkey of becoming the new route for the import of illicit Iranian money into Lebanon to finance Hezbollah, the source replied that Cyprus does not interfere in such matters.
Adding however that the country is doing all it can to support efforts to bring calm to the region.
“As for our cooperation with Israel,” the Cypriot official said, “like other bilateral cooperation relations, it is not directed against anyone and clearly not against Turkey. It’s based on the protection of our common interests, as well as stability and regional development”.
Indicating that the issue of the delimitation of an EEZ between Turkey and Syria with the involvement of the so-called ‘TRNC’ is an absolute red line for Cyprus because it is an illegal act and a violation of the country’s national sovereignty, the same source concluded: “We have a feeling that Israel also views such a development very unfavourably”.
For Israel, the issue of Turkey remains of utmost importance. A senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem told TPS-IL that Israel is trying to maintain a balance with Ankara despite Turkey’s constant provocations.
It is clear, it added, “that we do not want Turkey’s influence under Erdogan to reach our doorstep through Syria and in this direction, we have sent clear messages and taken actions, the first of which was to support the maintenance of Russian bases in Syria”.
With regard to the energy issue, the same source stressed that Israel remains committed to its agreements with other states in the region, especially Greece and Cyprus.
Addressing the much-discussed EastMed pipeline project, which in its original plan was to bring Israeli gas to Cyprus and from there to Greece and Italy and the rest of Europe, the source noted that it “remains frozen”.
Although there have been ideas to bring the gas to Cyprus or its EEZ and from there transport it by LNG ships to Greece and elsewhere.
It is no secret, the Israeli source commented, that it would be more cost-effective for Israeli gas to flow to Turkey and from there to Europe instead of the original EastMed project.
However, the source stressed, that the Turkey scenario cannot be discussed under the current circumstances and Jerusalem has been and remains open to discussions with friendly states on alternative and feasible options.
But none of these discussions have been or will be conditioned by anyone, let alone Turkey.
In contrast, the issue of the GSI, a proposed interconnection between the Israeli, Cypriot and Greek power grids via the world’s longest underwater cable – an issue which is expected to be discussed in detail at the trilateral summit in Jerusalem – is a project of direct interest to Israel.
The problem, according to the Israeli source, is that the Cyprus-Israel section is still a long way off. TPS-IL was told that Israel’s feeling is that Cyprus is approaching it as it did with Greece, i.e. the island should bear one-third of the cost and Israel two-thirds.
Our position, the source explained, is that it should be 50-50, but the issue needs to be clarified between the two sides and the EU also needs to agree to participate financially.
Thursday’s meeting in Athens may give an indication of where things are heading, but it is clear that energy is paramount for all three countries.
As far as Greece is concerned, given its relative distance in all respects, it is dealing with the issue in a much more low-key manner, trying not to give Turkey any space to return to a period of provocation against it, in the Aegean or otherwise.
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