(Israel Hayom) Prof. Eyal Zisser - The discovery of natural gas beneath the Mediterranean has become a main source of regional tension. The government of Lebanon - apparently under pressure from Hizbullah - is claiming ownership of some of the gas deposits that lie on its maritime border with Israel, thereby stalling production at the gas deposits that lie squarely within Lebanese territory and are not disputed. In 1974, Turkey occupied northern Cyprus, and since then has treated it as sovereign Turkish territory, allowing Turkey to claim ownership of some of Cyprus' territorial waters and hold up attempts to drill for gas. Now Erdogan signed an agreement with the Libyans allowing Ankara to prevent Israel, Cyprus, and Greece from laying a pipeline to export gas to Europe. Egypt has announced that it will not accept the Turkish military presence in Libya, which is in its backyard, and will not allow Turkey to act on its territorial claims in the Mediterranean. The writer is a lecturer in Middle East History at Tel Aviv University.
2020-01-16 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive