The Great Sea Interconnector, the EU’s Turkey challenge, and Cyprus’ growing role in the East Med
There’s one story dominating headlines in Greece these days, and it’s all about the Great Sea Interconnector as a French-flagged vessel set sail from Greece to carry out surveys for the project that will link the Greek and Cypriot power networks, eventually extending to Israel.
Turkey has long objected to this project, flexing its Blue Homeland doctrine and arguing that it needs Ankara's approval. Greece and Cyprus issued navigational warnings ahead of surveys kicking off, prompting a counter-warnings from Turkey. Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes contacts took place between France, which is a stakeholder in the GSI, and Turkey to overcome the impasse.
This diplomatic activity has raised some eyebrows in Athens, particularly among the opposition, which asked whether a diplomatic note sent by the French company undertaking the project to Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey amounted to seeking Ankara’s permission. Athens insists that the project is moving forward without any concession to Turkey, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying that “only Greece and Cyprus have granted permission” for the French research vessel to operate in the area.
This isn’t just an issue concerning Greece, Cyprus, Israel, France, and Turkey, but also the European Union, which backs the project, and which recently forcefully rejected one of the pillars of Turkey’s Blue Homeland doctrine, the Turkey-Libya maritime deal. These developments, and other issues related to security and defense, trade, and the deterioration of the rule of law in Turkey are all issues the EU will be called upon to address as it looks to deal with Ankara.
While the stories dominating the headlines focused on the GSI, we saw Foreign Policy magazine put the spotlight on an under-reported story in the East Med that ties in to everything we’ve been discussing. That’s the emergence of Cyprus as a key security partner for the West, and a quiet but significant revolution in US-Cypriot relations.
Nektaria Stamouli, Vassilis Nedos, Marc Pierini, Alan Makovsky and Jonah Brody join Thanos Davelis this week as we look into the latest developments on the Great Sea Interconnector, the EU’s Turkey challenge, and Cyprus’ growing role in the East Med.
A little more info on our guests:
Nektaria Stamouli is the deputy editor in chief of Kathimerini's English Edition and Politico's Eastern Mediterranean correspondent.
Vassilis Nedos is Kathimerini's diplomatic and defense editor.
Marc Pierini is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and former EU ambassador to Turkey.
Alan Makovsky is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Jonah Brody is a policy analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.
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