Breaking News: Cyprus jails Hezbollah man for plotting to kill Israelis

El Al airplanes sit on the runway Photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

A criminal court in Limassol, Cyprus, on Thursday sentenced Hezbollah operative Hossam Taleb Yaacoub to ??? four years ??? in prison for plotting to kill Israeli tourists on the small island. The prison sentence wraps up a criminal process that began last July when Yaacoub was arrested.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that he has ten days to appeal his conviction. Yaacoub admitted that he observed Israeli flights land in Cyprus and documented the movements of Israelis and locations where they stayed.

Related:

• Cyprus criminal court convicts Hezbollah member
• Bulgaria: EU could still act against Hezbollah

The conviction of Yaacoub may add greater urgency to the EU talks to include Hezbollah in its terror list. EU countries such as Austria and Germany have blocked a listing of Hezbollah because of insufficient legal evidence showing Hezbollah engages in terrorism. The Cyprus conviction represents the first conviction of a Hezbollah member in a European court.

Twenty four-year-old Yaacoub is a Swedish-Lebanese citizen who used France and the Netherlands as locations to carry out work for Hezbollah, according to his testimony at the trial. He was convicted on five of eight criminal charges. Yaacoub was arrested just days before an alleged Iran-Hezbollah operation blew up an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria.
Two alleged Hezbollah operatives participated in the bombing of a tour bus in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in July 2012, which killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver. The suspects are believed to be in Lebanon. Both Hezbollah operatives used European locations to carry out their terror attack, including travelling through Poland and Romania.
The then-Bulgarian interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, announced in February that Hezbollah operatives had been responsible for the Burgas attack. Tsvetanov said the two suspected Burgas perpetrators “were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah” and added that investigators had found information “showing the financing and connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects.”
France has resisted including Hezbollah in the EU terror list because it fears that it will lose diplomatic leverage in Lebanon. The Netherlands lists Hezbollah’s entire organization as a terror entity. The United Kingdom labels Hezbollah’s military wing as terrorist group.

via docstalk.blogspot.com

Maybe we should label Europe a terrorist organization and get it over with.

Turkey and Israel about to change the Cyprus gas game?

Turkey and Israel about to change the Cyprus gas game?(CM).By Stefanos Evripidou (other) Apart from removing Turkish objections to Israeli participation in NATO exercises, the prospect of reconciliation has also “removed a big obstacle to collaboration over the development of strategic energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean”, reported the Financial Times (FT) yesterday.

The London-based paper noted that improved ties between Turkey and Israel could also affect Cyprus should greater energy cooperation result in Nicosia getting sidelined. A Turkish official told FT that reconciliation also made a possible gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey a “much more viable” idea.

The latest opinion of an advisory committee of the Israeli government is that if gas should be exported, it will have to go through Israel first. A Cypriot diplomatic source told the Cyprus Mail that reports suggest Turkey is seriously considering a pipeline between Israel and Ceyhan. “This could very well be a game-changer. There is much more (to the apology) than meets the eye,” he said.

Matthew Bryza, a former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, was quoted by FT saying that without Israel to provide economies of scale, “in the short term the Cypriots lose their ability to do a pipeline or an LNG (liquefied natural gas) option”, adding that in the longer run a Cypriot pipeline to Turkey would make most commercial sense.

According to FT, Noble Energy and Delek Energy, who are the main investors in Israel’s large offshore natural gas fields- as well as partners in Cyprus’ Block 12- have in recent weeks “sounded out possible customers in energy-hungry Turkey”. The paper noted that until now, the private sector was eager to proceed with a possible pipeline between Israel and Turkey but that the political rift between the two governments did not allow progress to be made. (MORE)

Germany warns Cyprus its banks may NEVER reopen as Russia 'offers to write off debt if Gazprom get access to untapped oil fields'.

(OTHER)Germany warns Cyprus its banks may NEVER reopen as Russia 'offers to write off debt if Gazprom get access to untapped oil fields'.(DM).Germany's warning came after Cyprus's parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits as a condition for a European bailout of 10 billion euros (£8.6bn) last night. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was up to the Cypriot government to come up with an alternative proposal but it was fair to expect savers with deposits over 100,000 euros (£86,000) to contribute to the bailout. Moscow is now a massive ally for Cyprus - Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said he had not reached a deal at a first meeting today with his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov, but talks there would continue.  ...Russia's finance ministry said Nicosia had sought a further 5 billion euros, on top of a five-year extension and lower interest on an existing 2.5 billion euro loan. Moscow was angered that the European Union did not consult it over the proposed levy. President Vladimir Putin called the decision to seize money from savers’ bank accounts as ‘unfair, unprofessional and dangerous’.  Representatives of the Russian energy giant submitted the proposal to the office of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday evening. 'The entire wealth of the Church is at the disposal of the country ... so that we can stand on our own two feet and not on those of foreigners,'Archbishop Chrysostomos said after meeting Anastasiades early today. The Church of Cyprus is a major shareholder in Cyprus's third-largest domestic lender, Hellenic Bank. It is also rumoured that the Kremlin is privately offering to help bail out Cyprus in exchange for the right to use a naval base in the Greek part of the island.Hmmmm.......Would be very welcome now that Tartus is 'sinking'.Read the full story here. Update: Cyprus Fails to Obtain Kremlin Aid.(MT) Sarris did not manage to negotiate a Russian bailout despite a 1 1/2 hour meeting with his counterpart, Anton Siluanov. "We had a very good first meeting, very constructive, very honest discussion," he told journalists afterward, Bloomberg reported. Sarris subsequently attended a second meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Siluanov and Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak. An undisclosed source told Russian newswires that negotiations had not yielded any results and would continue Thursday. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is due to visit Moscow on Thursday for scheduled talks. "We understand how difficult the situation is, and we'll continue negotiations to find the solutions that will help us obtain Russia's support," Sarris said, adding that the Cypriot delegation would remain in Moscow "until we reach any agreement." Read the full story here.(Man In Glass House Dress In Basement) This is payback for the Leviathon gas and petrol finds Cyprus is involved with Israel against the will of Moscow and Syria.

The great Cypriot bank robbery

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/nervous-cypriots-hit-cash-machines-29134515.html
Nervous depositors in Cyprus have rushed to ATM machines to drain their accounts following a bailout agreement with international creditors that includes a levy on all the country’s bank accounts.
Lines formed at many ATMs as people scrambled to pull their money out after word that the 10 billion euro (£8.6bn) rescue package Cyprus agreed with its euro area partners and the International Monetary Fund included one-off levy on deposit, an unprecedented step in the eurozone crisis.
The levy is expected to raise 5.8 billion euro.
European officials said people with less than 100,000 euro in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, those owning more money will lose 9.9%. Cypriot bank officials said that depositors can access all their money except the amount set by the levy.
But that hardly assuaged people who continued to withdraw cash from ATMs until the machines ran out, unsure what or how much would be taxed. Officials said that withdrawing funds on Saturday would not reduce anyone’s levy.
The country’s co-operative banks also shut their doors after depositors scurried in hopes of protecting their savings. Unlike commercial banks which remain closed on weekends, co-operative banks customarily open for business on Saturday.
“Politicians and senior bank bosses have covered each other’s backs for years, now it’s ordinary people who are paying the price and are being punished,” said Christos Demetriades, 58, milling outside a shut Nicosia co-operative bank branch.
Cyprus’ Finance Minister Michalis Sarris defended the decision to accept the levy, saying it was either that or a complete economic meltdown. “This was the least worst option,” he told state broadcaster CyBC. “We battled to prevent the country from completely going bankrupt.”

***

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/3/16_Sinclair_-_One_Of_The_Most_Important_Events_In_History_%26_Gold.html
“What’s just happened is the IMF has backed up, lauded, supported, and publicized, as if it were a victory, the taking of 10% of what really turns out to be 80% of Russian ‘black money.’  Russian ‘black money’ is KGB money, now in business.  The leader of Russia (Putin) was a former KGB official.  Whose money do you think they have taken?  This is the biggest mistake the IMF could possibly have ever made.”
Eric King:  “Jim, it’s unimaginable to me, but, incredibly, just ten days ago in a KWN interview you warned that you don’t want to anger Russian leader Putin because he and Russia will punish the West in the gold market.  Can you talk about how this is going to impact the gold market beginning on Monday?”
Sinclair:  “What would you rather have, an insured bank account by the BIS, FDIC, ECB, when any government can come in and take 10% of your account and treat that as if you are paying a tax for monies that were lost because of devious actions by the banks themselves, or gold?
Eric King:  “Will the Russians take their revenge in the gold market?  Is that one of the places they will seek revenge?”
Sinclair:  “The answer is that this is one of the most important events in modern times for the popularity of holding gold rather than holding fiat money.  This is the catalyst that will propel gold through the $1,600 level.  To prevent a break above $1,600 in gold would take extraordinary efforts on the part of any manipulator in the marketplace.
It’s very dangerous in doing business with the Russians, to lose their money.  Revenge will be very much a part of the motivation for what happens from this point forward.  This type of event will take us out of the $1,500s and we may never see those prices again in our lifetimes.”

***

What’s up in Cyprus?
Sept 2011
http://brucekrasting.com/whats-up-in-cyprus-war/

————

Egypt making a power play to screw Israel in the Mediterranean?

(h/t JE)(EOZ)There was a somewhat cryptic article in Egypt Independent today:

The Shura Council's legislative committee approved a draft law submitted Wednesday cancelling current maritime borders of an economic zone between Egypt and Cyprus.
The proposed bill was submitted by MP Khaled Abdel Qader Ouda, who said the agreement was signed by Cyprus and Israel in February 2003.
He said this invalidates the deal since Egypt had the right to be present at the signing, according to international agreements.
Ouda argues that the renegotiation could mean billions of dollars for Egypt.
The draft law calls for the creation of new borders surrounding the economic zone in the presence of Turkey as a third party.

Apparently, Ouda is referring to the Egypt/Cyprus EEZ agreement of 2003, which states:

If either of the two Parties is engaged in negotiations aimed at the delimitation of its exclusive economic zone with another State, that Party, before reaching a final agreement with the other State, shall notify and consult the other Party, if such delimitation is in connection with coordinates 1 or 8.

Egypt apparently is claiming that the 2010 Israel/Cyprus EEZ agreement is subject to Egypt's approval, and Egypt is (retroactively?) disapproving it.
Coordinate 8 in the Egypt/Cyprus agreement happens to be coordinate 12 in the Israel/Cyprus agreement,32º 53' 20" latitude and 32º 58' 20" longitude, seen here:

Lebanon has also challenged the Israel/Cyprus agreement. 

But if Egypt is trying to bring Turkey into this, to carve up the areas now assigned to Israel and Cyprus, it might really turn into a mess. 

This is worth watching.

How can Egypt retroactively disapprove something three years ago? Throwing financial aid at Egypt when they behave hostile is a very bad idea.

Israeli ambassador to Cyprus expelled from energy forum by local organizers

(Carl) Israeli ambassador to Cyprus Michael Harari (right, with Cypriot Defense Minister Demetris Eliades) was expelled from an energy forum in Cyprus after the Lebanese Energy Minister refused to speak with an Israeli present (Hat Tip: Sunlight).

Israeli Ambassador Michael Harari, attend the Energy forum by special invitation, he came to the place - the University of Cyprus - around 10 am.
At 11.15, on schedule, President Christofias arrived with Gebran Bassil, Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Resources.
According to the agenda - which had been established in advance - Christofias was to give a keynote speech, followed immediately by Bassil, whose address about the future of Lebanon as an energy producer.
Just before the President took a step inside the room, attendees - delegates from the industry and the media - had been asked to stand. It proved a false alarm, because people were asked to retake their seats and wait for the next cue up - which happened a couple of minutes later.
Meanwhile, it seems, Harari was approached by the organizers and asked to leave. He said the Lebanese minister informed them that he would not speak unless and until Harari left.
Once the ambassador of Israel left the room, Christofias and Bassil walked in.
Harari confirmed that he was asked to leave the local field at the insistence of the Lebanese Minister of Energy.
"It's a pity that it happened," he later told the news media.
"I decided to leave in order not to embarrass the president," he said, adding: ". The organizers should have handled it differently."
Ironically, one of the themes of the forum was the need for energy cooperation among the nations of the region.

As you might recall, there is a dispute between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime boundaries. Cyprus, however, is supposed to be on our side. Their kowtowing to Lebanon is inexplicable and ought to be met with a formal diplomatic protest.

hey... if you don't want the business... the Jews really don't need to come

Israel looking at connecting its power grid to Europe

While (Egypt, Hamas agree to link electricity grids)(EOZ)(h/t Rachelle) and as Israel-haters pretend that they can hurt the Jewish state by threatening (tiny stores in the Pacific Northwest) and (insecure second-tier performing artists), Israel is making billion-dollar deals with Europe aimed at maintaining energy independence.

(Engineering News-Record) Israeli Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau has instructed the Israel Electric Corp. to advance a project that would connect the country to the European power grid by way of Cyprus and Greece. Officials of the state-owned power company are set to sign an agreement soon with DEI-Quantum Energy—an entity owned by Greece's largest utility, a Cypriot bank and private investors—for a feasibiilty study of the first 270-kilometer segment to connect with the Cyprus power network.
If the proposed EuroAsia Interconnector project is fully realized, it would be, at 998 km, one of the world's longest underwater power cables. According to the Israeli utility, it would have a capacity of up to 2000 MW.
The proposed line would extend from the Israeli city of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to the southeastern coast of Cyprus, then to the northwestern coast of Crete and on to the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece.
Landau said the project would give Israel a much-needed power-source backup and connect the country's stand-alone network with Europe, significantly boosting its future energy security. "The project could have a tremendous positive impact on the Israeli economy," he said.
The overall cost of the project is estimated at 1.5 billion euros, with the Israel-Cyprus segment put at 500 million euros. Israel Electric officials said the investment would pay for itself within four years.
Other project components to be managed by DEI-Quantum Energy include construction of powerplants in Cyprus, Crete and the Peloponnese peninsula, with the cost to be covered by the firm, its partners and various Israeli investors.
"Considering Israel's and Cyprus' natural-gas discoveries, Greece's energy shortage and the massive demand for energy within Europe, for Cyprus, the sky is the limit," said Nasos Ktorides, DEI-Quantum Energy chairman. He said Israel is expected to exploit its natural-gas discoveries much sooner than Cyprus and that it would be prudent for Cyprus to find "decisive and productive ways to export the excess energy to an already established electricity grid."
The feasibility study is expected to be completed in 2012. DEI-Quantum said the project could be started in 2013 and completed within 36 months.
The proposed power cable and related projects were among "energy cooperation" issues dicussed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month during a one-day visit to Cyprus—the first such trip by any prime minister of the country.

the best way to fix the Euro is through energy. Energy is what decides industrial production. Europe could fix itself if it moved from tourism to industry. An expensive Euro and an unstable populace of Muslims makes for deterring potential tourists looking to get away.

Israel beats Egypt to the punch on selling electricity to Europe

(Carl) A new Israeli electrical plant being built in Ashdod is to be used to export electricity to Europe via Cyprus and Crete - and the Egyptians are seething about it. Calling the project Israel's "High Dam," after Egypt’s major Nile dam and electrical power station, the reports note that the project will receive joint European-American funding. The project will both aid Israel in reducing its dependence on gas imports and allow the Jewish state to export electricity to Cyprus and Europe.

The Israel Electric Company (IEC) and Greece's DEH Quantum Energy are expected to sign the MOU in a few weeks' time. This will lead to a feasibility study, which will be followed – if all goes well – by ratification of the project by the Israeli and Cypriot governments, in the course of 2012.
The cable will be 270 km. long. Another cable will connect Cyprus and Crete, which is part of the Greek electricity grid. An MOU for the longer cable has already been signed between Greece and Cyprus.
According to the Egyptian newspaper Rose al-Youssef, both former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and businessman Hussein Salem, owner of the company in charge of exporting Egypt's gas, who is currently a fugitive in Spain, knew about this project when they signed deals with the Israeli government.
The closeness of Israel to Cyprus and Greece helped make the High Dam project more feasible, since Israel will be linked to the Cypriot and Greek electricity networks with 53,000 kilometers of connections under the sea to European shores, and is later expected to extend for another 600 kilometers inside European territories.
The electricity generated by the High Dam will provide more than 10 European countries with an electric power estimated at 2,000 megawatts and will reach 4,000 megawatts by 2020.
Israel made information about the dam project available to the majority of European countries involved, but did not notify Egypt, Rose al-Youssef claimed.

Heh.

Turkey Seeks Simultaneous Drilling Halt

(Hudson-NY.ORG) Washington is closely monitoring the recent developments on the issue...

Redrawing the Sea: Erdogan says Israel will not be able to move in the eastern Mediterranean as it wishes.
...oh and don't forget about those Turkish warships that are being built domestically. oh joy! (Hurriyet)...in the mean time Turkey acts like it is being diplomatic with it's other neighbors:

(AA.com) Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu on Saturday submitted a four-item proposal to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to resolve the spat with Greek Cyprus over drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.
The proposal starts with a bid for both sides to simultaneously suspend oil and gas exploration, a move that seemed to show Turkey's reluctance to start drilling work in the Mediterranean.
In the first item of the new proposal submitted to Ban, Eroğlu made an offer to the Greek side to "suspend the oil and natural gas exploration simultaneously until a comprehensive solution is found to the Cyprus problem."
If this is not going to happen, Eroğlu offered to "set up an ad-hoc committee shaped by representatives of both peoples" on the divided island.

Disgusting denial of the correlative. Turkey is on the gas pipeline and has no gas shortages like Europe does. It is not generous at all to meet this demand. Hindering exploration would raise the price of the resource... this would make Turkey profit. It sounds like as if they are making nice, but they are not. Erdogan's ploy at diplomacy is hostile and manipulative.

"We shall give some authority to the committee, such as [authority over] explorations, agreements and licenses dependent on written approval of both sides, and we will negotiate the ratio of sharing the riches that will be found," Eroğlu said.
Thirdly, the Turkish Cypriot leader proposed, "We shall use the income to finance the comprehensive talks," adding that "the adoption of the plan shall not harm the positions of either side."

He is playing as if he is generous and ready to negotiate terms... typical Islamic move of demanding conditions for negotiations.

Eroğlu said Ban was pleased with the proposal, in which he repeated Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's earlier call for the two sides to simultaneously renounce the energy explorations. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey supported the new proposal that was presented to the UN chief.

We all know Ban's bias already

"If the two parties renounce natural gas exploration, we will accept it," Erdoğan told Ban late Thursday on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York, asking the UN chief to intervene with the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia and urge them to stop their offshore explorations.
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün said Sunday that required coordinates had been set and drilling for oil would soon begin in northern Cyprus. If the Greek Cypriot administration sees Turkish Cypriots as a minority on the island and carries out exploration work unilaterally, Turkish Cypriots can begin exploration in the north of the island, Özgürgün said.
Richard Stone, a leader of Jewish communities in the United States, meanwhile told the daily newspaper Kathimerini on Sunday that Turkey's actions to prevent the gas and oil drilling efforts of Greek Cyprus and Israel in the East Mediterranean is "a reason for war." He said.

Meanwhile Ankara Prepares to Penalize Syria to look good for the international community and sadly the United States. Keep in mind that Assad isn't even a Muslim

(Hurriyet)"If you're going to act against fundamental rights and liberties, and the law, you will lose your position in my heart as my brother and my friend," Erdoğan said, referring to al-Assad. "I was very patient. Patience, patience, patience. And then I cracked."

It is amusing to think anyone would cooperate with Erdogan based on such dishonest intentions.

(Zaman) Opposition Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, leader Devlet Bahçeli has accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of working for the security of other countries while his country has been suffering from terrorist attacks.

Yikes, U.S., Turkey Agree on Delivery Schedule of Predators

(Zaman) "These [Predators] are UAVs with better qualities and features than the Herons," Yılmaz said, adding that the Turkish-made Anka would also be ready for the TSK around the same time as an alternative to Israeli-made Herons.Turkey was disappointed by Israel's failure to return six Herons it had sent to the country for maintenance, as it relies heavily on spy aircraft for surveillance missions that gather data on the activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, across the country's borders in the Southeast.... Meanwhile, the domestically made Anka, named after the legendary flying creature of Persian mythology, was brought out of the hangar for the first time in July 2010 and is expected to provide Turkey with a crucial advantage in its fight against the PKK. The Anka is capable of disrupting the electronic ware of enemy aircraft and has made Turkey the third country in the world, after the U.S. and Israel, to engineer UAVs.

This one is hysterically funny! Turkey’s economic lie ...Erdogan Says Turkey is a Role Model in Region?

Turkey no economic powerhouse, Erdogan’s credit bubble will soon explode

(AA.com) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey is a role model in its region and has become a country whose friendship and cooperation is asked for in the whole world. Attending a brunch meeting of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency in New York on Saturday, Erdoğan said that a country needed some qualities to draw investment and make commercial relations with another country, listing the qualities as a democratic milieu, stable economy, strong political state, dynamic real sector, big domestic market and export potential. Stressing the importance of stability and confidence, Erdoğan said that Turkey had these qualities. Turkey gives confidence to investors in the world with its economy, public financing and banking sector, Erdoğan said, adding that Turkish economy grew nine percent in 2010, 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and 8.8 percent in the second quarter of 2011. He said that Turkey became one of the fastest growing two economies together with China in the first half of the year. Noting that Turkey became an attraction center for investors, Erdoğan said that private sector investments, which were only 43 billion Turkish Lira, or TL, in 2002, rose to 164 billion TL in 2010. Erdogan noted that Turkey created 1.5 million new employment opportunities in June 2011 when compared to June 2010. He added that Turkey's success was not related with conjuncture, noting that it was related with economy management, real sector and the potential of the country. He said that Turkey's export increased from $36 billion in 2002 to $130 billion in 2010, adding that Turkey had free trade agreements with 20 countries, and opened to Middle East, Africa and South Africa countries to make export. Erdogan said that trade volume between Turkey and the United States was $16 billion in 2010.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Says Turkey Appreciated in IMF Meetings?

(Anadoluajansi) "This is the first time in nine years that I have seen such a high-level political will in the United States, aiming to make business with Turkey," Babacan said.

Turkish Opposition Says No to 'Israel Shield' aka that NATO thing Obama wanted so bad ...doesn't sound like the West likes them or vise versa as much as Erdogan's propaganda claims.

(Hurriyet) The Turkish government is doing nothing but ensuring Israel's safety by allowing the establishment of a NATO radar base in Turkey, Republican and People's Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Cyprus rebuffs Turkey, pushes ahead on gas drilling

(Reuters) - Cypriot President Demetris Christofias said on Tuesday the island would press ahead with gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, and that its plans were within its sovereign rights. "On the possibility of Turkey committing an unlawful act, something which we hope will not happen, we will expect a strong and effective response from the international community," Christofias said in a statement. (More)

Turkey's Threat to Israel's New Gas Riches by Simon Henderson h/t (DocsTalk)
Ankara's warning that Turkey will stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean poses a direct challenge to U.S. policy.
On September 8, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Aljazeera that his government had taken steps to prevent Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources in the Mediterranean Sea. "Israel has begun to declare that it has the right to act in exclusive economic areas in the Mediterranean," he stated, apparently citing Israeli plans to tap newly discovered offshore gas reserves. Israel "will not be the owner of this right," he warned. In other remarks, Erdogan declared that the Turkish navy would protect future aid ships bound for Gaza in order to prevent a repetition of the 2010 flotilla incident, in which Israeli commandos killed nine activists attempting to break the blockade. These comments came just days after the release of a UN report condemning the deaths but justifying Israel's blockade -- a judgment that prompted Ankara to drastically reduce diplomatic relations between the two countries and freeze their substantial military cooperation and trade.
By September 9, both governments seemed to be stepping back from a confrontation over any future humanitarian convoy. One Turkish official reportedly said that Erdogan had been "misquoted" and taken "out of context," while Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office countered a media report attributed to the office of Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman about potentially supporting the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in its conflict with Turkey. Even so, the potentially more problematic issue of offshore natural gas rights looms large.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea gives each country the right to exploit resources in an "exclusive economic zone" up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline, but maritime border agreements with neighboring states (including offshore neighbors located less than 400 nautical miles away) still need to be negotiated. In the eastern Mediterranean, this issue came to the forefront after Israel discovered substantial offshore gas reserves estimated to exceed current consumption levels several times over. Such large-scale findings offer the probability of substantial energy independence and likely surpluses for export.
Neighboring Egypt is already a key player in the international natural gas market, while Lebanon and Cyprus are considered geologically likely to have significant offshore reserves of their own. The first exploratory drilling off Cyprus is set to begin next month -- a development that could result in even more threatening rhetoric from Ankara.
Role of the Cyprus Dispute
Although Erdogan's September 8 comments conflated the gas and Gaza blockade issues, the real key to understanding Turkey's current squabbles with Israel is the unresolved dispute over Cyprus. In the 1960s and 1970s, tensions between the island's Greek-speaking and Turkish-speaking communities -- backed, respectively, by Athens and Ankara -- often seemed a greater danger to regional peace than differences between Israelis and Palestinians. Since 1974, when Turkey sent troops to the island to support the Turkish Cypriot community and block any union between the majority Greek Cypriots and Greece, the island has been divided, with UN forces interposed between the two sides.
Frequent attempts at reconciliation have failed. With Ankara's backing, Turkish Cypriots have established the notionally independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is bolstered by the presence of more than 30,000 Turkish soldiers. Yet no country other than Turkey has recognized the TRNC -- a fact that continues to infuriate Ankara. Meanwhile, the Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus has become a member of the European Union and is considered to represent the entire island.
The recent discoveries of natural gas under the eastern Mediterranean seabed have seemingly prompted Ankara to renew its diplomatic campaign on behalf of Turkish Cypriots. Erdogan reportedly stated last week: "Turkey, as a guarantor of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has taken steps in the area [of the offshore resources], and it will decisively pursue its right to monitor international waters in the east Mediterranean." Such a policy could put Turkey at odds with all the littoral governments of the area, from the Republic of Cyprus to Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria:
Cyprus. Ankara is annoyed that the Republic of Cyprus signed a maritime border agreement with Lebanon and another with Israel. In 2008, the Turkish navy reportedly came dangerously close to ships carrying out seismic surveys in Cypriot waters, alarming Washington. On September 8, the Greek Cypriot government issued a statement protesting Ankara's claim that the island's plans to explore and exploit offshore reserves are not in line with international law and do not facilitate resolution of the Cyprus problem. "The Cyprus problem cannot be solved with threats," the spokesman noted.
Ankara's anger with Cyprus will likely grow after July 2012, when the island holds the EU presidency for six months. Although Turkey has already cooled its enthusiasm for joining the union, it may well become irritated by the prestige and enhanced diplomatic influence that EU leadership will confer upon Cyprus. Indeed, Ankara has said it will freeze ties with the union during this period.
Israel. The discovery of the huge Leviathan gas field in 2010, close to the Israel-Cyprus maritime border, has generated optimism that similar abundance might be found in nearby Block 12, which lies in Cypriot waters. One way of exploiting such reserves would be to establish an export-oriented liquefied natural gas facility on Cyprus, to be operated jointly with Israel. Yet Turkey has already condemned the idea.
Lebanon. The Lebanese parliament has yet to ratify the signed maritime border agreement with Cyprus, in part because Beirut disagrees with the Cyprus-Israel accord and the Israel-Lebanon maritime border it implies. Iran and its Hizballah surrogate have accused Israel of seizing Lebanese offshore gas fields, even though none of the Israeli discoveries made thus far are anywhere near the disputed line. Ankara, already sympathetic to Hizballah, may be tempted to take sides in this dispute despite concern about Lebanon exploiting its own offshore resources.
Egypt. Cairo already has a maritime border accord with Cyprus, signed in 2003 and ratified in 2004, as well as a framework agreement for resolving ownership of resources that cross the median line. Ankara's desire for good relations with Egypt probably trumps any concern it might have about this accord, and Erdogan gave no sign of raising the issue during his trip to Cairo yesterday.
Syria. As an oil and gas producer, Syria is expected to look offshore for reserves at some point in the future. In addition to a maritime agreement with Cyprus, Damascus will also need to draw an offshore line with Turkey. This will be problematic because of the Turkish province of Hatay, a finger of coastal territory that Damascus has regarded as Syrian land in the past. Although President Bashar al-Asad declared the issue resolved during a 2004 visit to Turkey, no details were given, and Syrian television continues to give the weather forecast for the area as if it is a part of Syria.
U.S. Policy
Washington has a strong interest in eastern Mediterranean countries finding and exploiting offshore reserves. For example, Houston-based Noble Energy is leading the drilling in both Israeli and Cypriot waters. U.S. policy would also be well served by peaceful resolution of the Cyprus dispute, which is fast becoming yet another hindrance to Turkey's EU aspirations.
Accordingly, U.S. officials must emphasize to Ankara that its recent rhetoric is incompatible with being recognized as an important diplomatic partner of the United States and Europe. Erdogan's latest comments came shortly after Turkey accepted Washington's request to host a radar station intended to warn of potential Iranian missile launches against Europe and, in the future, the United States. Ankara cannot be permitted to enjoy the benefits of a strong relationship with Washington while undermining U.S. objectives in the eastern Mediterranean.
Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute.

Turkey has only itself to blame if shunned by the EU

via europenews.dk

“Turkey has declared on more than one occasion that if it has to make a choice between its accession to the EU and Cyprus, it will choose Cyprus”.

Posted via email from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Catholic Bishop’s Driver Charged With Murder in Turkey

He wasn't just stabbed ~ his throat was cut. This is what Muslims are meant to do to the non-believers ~ according to the Koran.

Bishop Luigi Padovese, Vicar Apostolic of Anatolia, had his throat cut by his driver and bodyguard in the garden of his summer house in a seaside town near Iskenderun, in the southern province of Hatay, news reports said. AFP

via islamizationwatch.blogspot.com

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous

The pope should realize that Israel's issues with Turkey and the flotilla are related and stop his monkeying around with Islam and Palestine.  If an ideology is as violent and dangerous as Mohammad's doctrines are then he should realize that he is enabling another Holocaust by not protecting Israel's security against rockets.  Killing Jews is part of Hamas's manifesto and it is also part of the manifesto of the so called "Moderates" he has enabled over the years called Fatah and their leader the orchestrator of the Munich Massacre.    Do you think the Pope will learn?

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he boards his plane to leave for his pastoral visit to Cyprus at Fiumicino International Airport in Rome June 4, 2010.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI departed Friday on a sensitive three-day trip to Cyprus, a visit likely to be overshadowed by shock over the killing in Turkey of a bishop who had been scheduled to meet with the pontiff.

via islamizationwatch.blogspot.com

Let's hope the Pope doesn't just sit quietly as an Islamic speaker denegrates Jews this time.