An Oil and Gas Industry
professional source close to this columnist, who is based variously between
Turkish Cyprus and Iran,
recently encountered an official of the Office of the Minister coordinating
Investments and Energy Affairs, in the Iranian Embassy in South
Cyprus. He, the Greek Cypriot official, was queuing for a visa
prequel – apparently - to flying to Tehran
for a meeting with his Iranian counter-parts in the related industry field.
Quite what was going on exactly is not yet available to be published, but the
question perhaps is, are the GCs considering buying in Oil and Gas from Iran,
or are they seeking investments in the Iranian Oilfields? Either way it could be
seen as more than just a tacit admission that the great Cypriot Oil and Gas
bonanza was just a pipe dream. Contacts in Iran will perhaps know of whatever
bi-lateral initiatives might be underway and this will likely leak into this
column in due time.
As has been observed in
analogous articles in this column of late, it would be a truly justice-laden irony if in fact it was a joint
Turkish/Turkish Cypriot initiative that was to discover the sub-marine liquid
gold, rather than GC/France/Israel for as we know, Total are not continuing
with their exploratory activities at the moment although this may have as much
to do with the collapse of the international price of oil as anything else.
There could of course be far more here than meets the eye, for in as much as
Greek Cyprus may be courting Iranian investment so too might the South Cyprus regime be seeking to import Iranian
products, oil gas or otherwise. Quite what Washington will make of this is another
thing of course given that the sanction-drivers have been primarily Republican
USA historically.
The detail of delivery,
either of physical products or financial investments, would be devilish indeed.
Sanctions mean that a highly convoluted method would have to be employed in bringing
oil/gas to Cyprus unless Turkey is
involved. The same could apply in respect of financial transfers either by way
of gold or other minerals as currency transfers could not, in theory take place
and it is pretty unlikely that Turkey is at all likely to ‘play ball’ unless
there is something in it for them such as a settlement on Cyprus, for example.
The latter is virtually unthinkable in the current climate and in any event,
the South Cyprus regime is rightly not recognised by Ankara. The raising of anti-Iranian sanctions
is a prospect, not a certainty.
As alluded to in a recent
article which was entitled Greek Cyprus – the ‘Prostitute’ of the Eastern
Mediterranean, the ‘irritation’ to
the south of the Green Line appear now to be ‘street walking’ in Tehran, so
desperate are they to shore up what passes for an economy in their province.
The EU has stumped up piles of cash, but they do want it back at some stage and
Nicosia, like their elder siblings in Athens do not like having
to actually adhere to the terms of the deal. Moscow
too has waded in but also with terms that could see neo-Soviet vessels and
aircraft in South Cyprus, something that can
only add to the instability of the region. If Greek Cyprus really is courting Tehran, this is seriously going to irritate Tel Aviv and
the Israeli’s are fairly active in Cyprus too. The issues of gas are
indeed ‘electric’!
That a rapprochement with Iran is a
matter of common-sense and could promote the re-stabilisation of the region is
a given to those of us who understand why. Ham-fisted and one-sided attempts by
Greek Cyprus to engage with those who are still somewhat ‘outside the temple’
could damage the work that is being done in this respect. Desperate people are
apt to opt for taking desperate measures. Queuing up for a visa for what is
hardly going to be for touristy reasons seems to indicate quite how desperate
the government of the state of South Cyprus
has become. A deal on Cyprus
could and should materially improve the lot of both sides of the Cyprus
Diaspora. There is simply none as blind as those who absolutely refuse to see!
By
Chris Green
 |
| Beşparmak Media Services |
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