Contested E.Med: Equation feasible without Turkey?

ANKARA

Following the exploration of hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, neighboring countries try to find ways to expand their exploration and drilling activities through new business partnerships. Turkey, with steps it has taken, has shown its determination to stay within this energy equation.

Due to its strategic location, the Mediterranean Sea has been home to a lot of civilizations in history and witnessed many wars. The main elements of the conflicts in recent years have been natural gas and oil resources.

Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Greek-administered Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia are littoral countries in the Mediterranean. But especially with its energy resources, the Eastern Mediterranean and the region off the coast of Cyprus Island attract most of the attention.

With the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves since the early 2000s in the Eastern Mediterranean, neighboring countries, global actors and energy giant companies have focused on the region. Soon after the exploration, Israel, Southern Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey have begun exploration and drilling activities in the region. But there is no joint agreement among those countries to delimit the maritime jurisdiction. This leads to tensions and unilateral declarations of maritime jurisdiction of the countries in the overlapping areas. Southern Cyprus signed an Exclusive Economic Zone agreement with Egypt in 2003, Lebanon in 2007 and Israel in 2010, while Turkey submitted a written objection to the UN, reporting outer limits of its continental shelf.

In recent years, efforts of countries that have accelerated exploration and drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean have frequently occupied the world agenda. The discovered energy resources in the region opened a door to new collaborations among these countries. But in this new equation in the Mediterranean, Turkey is tried to be pushed out of the game. The Turkish government said it will never give up protecting the legitimate rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country also shows its determination through its exploration and drilling activities as well as diplomatic attempts. Turkey searches hydrocarbon resources with its seismic exploration ships, named Oruc Reis and Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa, and carries out drilling activities with its vessels Fatih and Yavuz. Turkey signed a continental shelf delimitation agreement with the TRNC in 2011 and a memorandum of understanding on the delimitation of the maritime jurisdiction areas with Libya in 2019.

The international community interpreted the recent Turkish-Libyan maritime deal as one of the most important political gains that have been achieved by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Anadolu Agency investigated the issue with its dimensions, such as the current situation, energy potential, main source of existing problems, and the position of Turkey in the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean.