| ID | 127614 |
| Title Proper | East mediterranean geopolitical energy elbowing with an American, Russian, Israeli, Turkish, and Iranian prefix |
| Other Title Information | the role of international and regional actors |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Marketos, Thrassy N |
| Publication | 2013. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The Leviathan gas deposit discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 2010 by the U.S. Noble Energy Company is in fact Syria's stake in "democratization." The drilling of natural gas has given birth to a new conflict in the region: Israel, Syria and the Gaza Strip claiming drilling rights as well.
Cyprus (an EU member country) has not given up either, nor has Lebanon, which asked the U.N. to recognize its right to drill in its territorial waters, Hezbollah being the most vocal in this regard.
Turkey presented Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with the project of a Qatar-Saudi Arabia-Iraq-Syria-Turkey gas pipeline, via which natural gas could have been exported to Europe too, to the detriment of the Russian Federation, however the Syrian President refused, implementing Iran's natural gas pipeline project instead.
Construction of the natural gas pipeline started immediately. Spurred on by the U.S., Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia began directly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood as a destabilizing element for the "traitorous" regimes that were negotiating the Leviathan's potential with Iran, Russia, China, and India.
Turkish warships are engaged in all kinds of conflicts with American, Israeli, and Cypriot prospecting vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey imports 60 per cent of its natural gas needs from Russia and cannot allow its "historical enemy" to manage the Leviathan deposit too. It is hoped that the advantage will be reversed once the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power.
This analysis, based on the neo-realist school of thought in geopolitics, aspires to shed light on the geopolitical game being played astride the media coverage of the Syrian civil war and Eastern Mediterranean gas deposit potential. |
| `In' analytical Note | Central Asia and the Caucasus Vol. 14, No.1; 2013: p.71-77 |
| Journal Source | Central Asia and the Caucasus Vol. 14, No.1; 2013: p.71-77 |
| Key Words | Energy Security ; Middle East ; Energy Deposits ; East Mediterranean ; United States ; European Union ; Russia ; Iran ; Turkey ; Civil War in Syria ; Israel ; Greece ; Cyprus ; Kurds |