Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos is bringing Turkey's planned undersea gas pipeline to occupied northern Cypr...

Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos is bringing Turkey's planned undersea gas pipeline to occupied northern Cyprus before the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg today, calling the project illegal and demanding the bloc respond. The pipeline, which Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration signed a memorandum of understanding on earlier this year, would run 97 kilometers under the Levantine Sea from Alanya on Turkey's southern coast to Kyrenia. The project is estimated to cost 601 million euros and is projected to be operational by 2028. Nicosia has declared the memorandum null and void, arguing the Turkish Cypriot administration has no international legal standing to conclude such an agreement. Cyprus also warned the EU that the pipeline could eventually be used to extract gas from offshore zones over which the Republic claims sovereign rights under international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Turkish Cypriot "prime minister" Unal Ustel called the project the "project of the century" and said gas matters are "entirely a matter dependent on the decision" of Turkey and the north. He has dismissed Cyprus' complaint to the UN Secretary-General, filed in August, as a double standard. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after a July council meeting that the bloc expects Turkey to respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all EU member states. The European grid operators' body Entso-E has confirmed the only interconnector project linking the Republic of Cyprus in its formal plans is the Great Sea Interconnector, connecting Cyprus, Greece, and Israel. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey intervened militarily following a coup backed by the Greek military junta. The Turkish Cypriot administration declared independence in 1983 and is recognized only by Turkey. #Cyprus #Turkey #EasternMediterranean