The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Tuesday slammed a new hydrocarbon deal reached between the Greek Cypriot administration and Egypt earlier on Monday.
Citing deals and pacts signed during Monday’s visit to Cairo by Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, the TRNC Foreign Ministry emphasized that any deal that is not approved by the Turkish Cypriots is null and void.
The ministry also urged Christodoulides to abandon his endeavors that risk bringing the entire region to the verge of a conflict.
The ministry added that the international community should realize that the Greek Cypriot administration is pursuing an irreconcilable and provocative approach and, hence, should acknowledge the existence of two separate states on the island for a lasting resolution.
The Greek Cypriot administration and Egypt signed an agreement with an energy consortium that envisages the export of gas from the Mediterranean island's offshore fields to Europe after being processed in the North African country.
Egypt, alongside Italian energy giant Eni and France's TotalEnergies, have agreed to "collaborate to commercialize the natural gas reserves discovered within" an offshore area known as Block 6, according to the administration's statement.
This was the first such agreement of its kind signed by the Greek Cypriot administration.
The gas will be transported and processed in Egypt at "existing Zohr facilities to be then liquefied in the Damietta (liquified natural gas) LNG plant for export to European markets," according to a statement from Eni.
Europe has been seeking alternative sources of natural gas since Russia invaded Ukraine almost three years ago, sending energy prices significantly up across the continent.
The agreement was signed in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Christodoulides. The two parties also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Aphrodite gas field with Chevron Cyprus, NewMed Energy and BG Cyprus, as per an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a United Nations plan to end the longstanding dispute.
