The Greek Cypriot administration's decision to open a new tender for hydrocarbon exploration offshore Cyprus is a move to attract Russian companies to the Mediterranean area in opposition to Turkey, said director of hydrocarbons at the Paris-based Mediterranean Energy Observatory (OME).
'Opening a new tender for natural gas exploration which can increase the tension [between Turkey and Greek Cypriot administration] was not a necessary move in an atmosphere in which peace talks are making progress,' director Sohbet Karbuz told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
The Greek Cypriot administration announced a tender for new hydrocarbon exploration offshore the long-divided Mediterranean Island on March 24. This calls for bids to be submitted by June 21 to award licenses for blocks 6, 8 and 10.
Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Turkey would not allow foreign companies to explore for hydrocarbons in the area.
“The Greek Cypriot administration’s decision to open a tender on the one hand disregards the Turkish Cypriot side’s equal rights and interests on the island’s natural resources and on the other hand violates our country’s continental shelf rights in the region,” Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on March 25.
According to Karbuz, Greek Cypriots has an aim to magnetize Russian energy companies to Cyprus' offshore blocks for exploration and put diplomatic pressure on Turkey.
'One of the blocks named 6 is intersecting with the area in which Turkey stakes a claim for Turkish Petroleum. The Greek Cypriot administration aims to bring a major actor,' Karbuz said adding that it could well be a Russian company.
'Gazprombank and Novatek had given offers to previous tenders in the past. We know that Russia wants to be there [in the Mediterranean],' Karbuz said.
Karbuz asserted that the Greek Cypriot administration is looking for a new actor in its diplomatic spate against Turkey and is trying to benefit from the current dispute between Turkey and Russia.
The rift between Russian and Turkey arose when a Russian SU-24 fighter which crashed in the Syrian region of Bayirbucak close to Yayladagi district of southern Hatay province was shot down by Turkey. NATO confirmed that the incident was in violation of Turkey's airspace.
According to Karbuz, the Greek Cypriot administration's claims which says 'there are geologic similarities between the tendered blocks at the Zohr gas field are merely indicators resulting from some preliminary research which was conducted by Greek Cypriot scientists and private companies.
The Zohr gas field was discovered in last August by Italian Eni offshore Egypt as the biggest reserve in the Mediterranean with 850 billion cubic meters of capacity.
The eastern Mediterranean island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after a 1974 military coup by Greece was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.
Long-stalled negotiations to find a way to settle the conflict resumed last year following Akinci's election in April. The talks which restarted last May are focused on establishing a federal model.
By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
muhsin.tiryakioglu@aa.com.tr