The European Council and Turkey, confronted by Cypriot hydrocarbons

The tension between the European Union and Turkey continues. Despite the fact that the two administrations, that of the EU and that of Ankara, are focused over recent weeks on responding to the health and economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, political differences continue to exist and there is no sign that they will disappear. In particular, it is the eastern Mediterranean area that has generated the most friction recently.

The abundant hydrocarbon reserves in Cypriot territorial waters have been under dispute for years. The problem lies mainly in the fact that Cyprus and Turkey do not agree on exploitation rights for these resources. Nicosia claims them entirely for itself, but Ankara attributes a part of them to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a political and administrative entity unilaterally separated from the rest of the island in 1983, but which has only been officially recognized as a state by Turkey.

On behalf of this entity, two prospecting vessels flying the Turkish flag and two other research vessels have been carrying out operations in the waters belonging to the island since last May. The Government of Nicosia, which is part of the European Union, has historically been supported by Greece, Turkey's traditional rival for dominance of the eastern Mediterranean. Similarly, the European Union has positioned itself in favour of its partner and has repeatedly condemned the actions taken by Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration.

Last February, Brussels already imposed severe sanctions on two directors of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, the Turkish state oil company. In recent days, coinciding with the extraordinary meeting - held remotely - held by the Twenty-seven members on account of negotiating a Community reconstruction fund, several of the Member States agreed to bring up the issue of Turkish prospecting.

The Council, of course, gave its opinion on this. “We express our full solidarity with Cyprus and recall and reaffirm our previous conclusions on this issue”, reads its statement. A measured commitment, without stridency, but sufficient to generate a lively response from the Turkish side which, incidentally, has served Erdogan well by ensuring that the management of the coronavirus is not the only issue on the agenda.

Shortly after the Council's words were made public, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its own statement. The letter was not sparing in its criticism of the European institutions, which it disqualified as an invalid mediator in the dispute between Nicosia and Ankara. From the institution led by Mevlut Çavusoglu, they interpret that, with a Member State in the middle, the European Union is both judge and party in the territorial waters dispute. It was pointed out that the concept of European solidarity is “obsolete” and cannot guide a negotiated solution to the conflict.

The communiqué warned that Turkey has no intention of stopping prospecting, which the Council called “illegal,” but at the same time it called on Brussels to contribute to bilateral negotiations. “What we expect from the European Union is to encourage dialogue between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and between Greece and our country,” the official note stressed.

Turkey also accused Cyprus and Greece of “holding hostage” its process of admission to the community club. The fact is that negotiations for the Eurasian country's entry into the Union have been stalled for more than a decade, partly because of the constant rejection emanating from Athens and Nicosia. 

It is also true, however, that, regardless of the unresolved situation with Cyprus, it is highly unlikely that the process will be reopened soon for Turkey alone. The markedly authoritarian drift that Erdogan's government has taken in recent years, especially since the attempted coup d'état in the summer of 2016, represents a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to a possible membership of the Brussels club.

Similarly, the unilateral and expansionist foreign policy implemented by Ankara does not fit well with the culture of consensus demanded by the European Union. Erdogan's projection towards hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean is, of course, one of its most problematic aspects, since it carries with it the Cyprus question, which has been unresolved for nearly half a century. Similarly, the agreements signed between Ankara and Tripoli for preferential access for Turkish extractive companies to the gas fields off the Libyan coast have been a source of instability not only with Greece and Cyprus, but also with other regional powers such as Egypt and even France.

Erdogan's and his armed forces' direct involvement in the armed conflicts in Libya and Syria has also made Turkey a somewhat uncomfortable ally for certain actors, including NATO and the European Union itself. Furthermore, in recent weeks, Brussels has been forced to negotiate a new migration agreement so that Ankara can detain refugees from Syria and the Middle East on its territory.

The management of displaced persons from Idlib - about a million since last November - is another thorn in the side of relations between Brussels and the Turkish Government, which has repeatedly used the refugees as a sword of Damocles to obtain financial compensation from Community coffers.