Cyprus is bringing Turkey's plan for an undersea gas pipeline to occupied northern Cyprus directly to EU foreign ministe...

Cyprus is bringing Turkey's plan for an undersea gas pipeline to occupied northern Cyprus directly to EU foreign ministers today, calling the project a breach of international law and Cypriot sovereignty. Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos briefed his counterparts at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on a memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration. The proposed pipeline would run roughly 97 kilometers under the eastern Mediterranean, connecting Alanya on Turkey's southern coast to Kyrenia in the occupied north, at a cost of 601 million euros and projected to be operational by 2028. Kombos called the agreement a "clear violation of international law and the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus," framing it as part of a broader pattern of Turkish conduct in the region. He also told ministers that Cyprus had reported 659 violations of its airspace and exclusive economic zone to the United Nations in just July and August alone. Perhaps the sharpest point Kombos made was on Turkey's alignment with EU foreign policy. He cited a figure of just 4%, repeating it twice for emphasis, and questioned how a candidate country could claim genuine EU ambitions while acting so far outside the bloc's common positions. Cyprus said it supports EU enlargement in principle but warned that admitting countries that don't meet the criteria would weaken rather than strengthen the bloc's security. Kombos put it plainly to Ankara: "We encourage Turkey to see its European Union path as an opportunity for them and not as a debt owed to them." The pipeline plan was announced in May by Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. Turkish officials and the north's self-declared administration have described it as the "project of the century," framing it as a route to bring eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe. The occupied north is recognized as a state only by Turkey. #Cyprus #Turkey #EU