Turkiye says gas pipeline project with Turkish Cypriots can provide power to whole island

ISTANBUL: Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said a planned natural gas pipeline linking Turkiye and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community could eventually provide power to the entire ethnically split island.

Turkiye announced a project this year to build a mostly subsea 101-km (63-mile) natural gas pipeline to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), aiming to supply gas to the community there. It says the pipeline would be built in such a way as to also potentially connect with Europe.

Energy cooperation and maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean have been thorny issues ⁠between Turkiye, Greece ⁠and Cyprus for years. Ankara and Athens have repeatedly traded barbs over hydrocarbon exploration in the region.