In search of alternative energy resources, Europe may compete over Mediterranean gas with Turkey which is also actively exploring the region for reserves, Christine Kensche said in a report published by Die Welt’s English online edition on Tuesday.
Europe is looking new energy resources as alternatives to Russian gas. Europe may appeal to Mediterranean gas in cooperation with the regional powers. Turkey is also desperately seeking gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. Tensions may appear soon as Europe and Turkey stake claims to regional gas reserves.
Turkey’s drillship”Abdülhamid Han” which is used for exploratory offshore drilling has recently set sail.
“Neither the puppets nor those who hold their strings will be able to prevent us from asserting our rights in the Mediterranean,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said adding that “we don’t have to ask anyone for permission or ratification”.
“It is true that the “Abdülhamid Han” is to start drilling in the Turkish economic zone” Kensche wrote. “But it is quite narrow compared to that of Greece, she added.
Greek media are already expressing fears that Turkey could – once again – encroach on their or Cypriot waters, Kensche said.
“From the Turkish perspective, the division of economic zones in the Mediterranean is unfair and to the massive advantage of Greece, whose countless islands and thus maritime borders extend far to Turkey.”
“However, Greece’s maritime borders are internationally recognized. Moreover, Athens has signed the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) – Turkey has not. Greece, in turn, feels threatened by Erdogan’s power politics. Moreover, Turkey still occupies the north of the EU state of Cyprus and drills in Cypriot waters,” Kensche wrote.
Ahval