Turkey best route for Cypriot gas to Europe, EU minister

Turkey is the best route for sending offshore natural gas from Cyprus to Europe, EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on July 1.

Çavuşoğlu’s comments came amid growing expectations that the reserves from the Aphrodite gas field off the southern coast of Cyprus – estimated to be about 200 billion cubic meters – could prove a catalyst for peace and cooperation in the region.

Çavuşoğlu said the construction of a pipeline to transport the gas from offshore Cyprus would aid, both politically and financially, peace talks between the two sides, which resumed in February after a year-long hiatus.

“Turkey wants a permanent solution and peace in Cyprus,” Çavuşoğlu said, during a meeting with Fikri Toros, president of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce in Ankara.

He added that the value of the reserves around Cyprus had yet to be calculated.

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce had close trade relations, especially concerning the free movement of goods and lifting trade barriers against exports from Turkish Cyprus.

Fields licensed by Greek Cypriots for the search for natural gas overlap those licensed by Turkish Cyprus. Peace talks, which had stalled in January 2012, resumed in February, with the distribution of the gas found in Aphrodite being among the negotiations’ most important topics.