Post by Daniel on Mar 5, 2017 9:28:30 GMT -5
'Cyprus deal could speed up Turkey energy project'
AFP, 05/03/17
A Cyprus peace deal would speed up Israel's project to provide gas to Turkey, the new Israeli ambassador to Ankara said Wednesday.
Eitan Naeh became Israel's first ambassador in Turkey in December when relations resumed in the summer after a six-year diplomatic rift.
"We think that the solution to the Cyprus problem can speed up the energy project," Naeh said, adding it was a "win-win" for everyone.
"A Cyprus solution will make life easier for all," he told reporters during a briefing in Ankara.
Naeh was referring to exporting gas from the Leviathan field off its coast, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019.
The best way for gas to be exported between Turkey and Israel would be a pipeline via the territorial waters of Cyprus.
However, there have been growing tensions over the Cyprus deal after reunification talks were called off last week.
The recent UN-backed negotiations on ending Cyprus' decades-old division have been seen by many as the best chance for a settlement since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan in 2004.
The island has been divided since Turkish troops invaded its northern third in 1974 in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.
more
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/226107
AFP, 05/03/17
A Cyprus peace deal would speed up Israel's project to provide gas to Turkey, the new Israeli ambassador to Ankara said Wednesday.
Eitan Naeh became Israel's first ambassador in Turkey in December when relations resumed in the summer after a six-year diplomatic rift.
"We think that the solution to the Cyprus problem can speed up the energy project," Naeh said, adding it was a "win-win" for everyone.
"A Cyprus solution will make life easier for all," he told reporters during a briefing in Ankara.
Naeh was referring to exporting gas from the Leviathan field off its coast, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019.
The best way for gas to be exported between Turkey and Israel would be a pipeline via the territorial waters of Cyprus.
However, there have been growing tensions over the Cyprus deal after reunification talks were called off last week.
The recent UN-backed negotiations on ending Cyprus' decades-old division have been seen by many as the best chance for a settlement since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan in 2004.
The island has been divided since Turkish troops invaded its northern third in 1974 in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.
more
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/226107
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