French Total quit Cyprus energy search after finding nothing - reports.

French Total quit Cyprus energy search after finding nothing - reports. (Famagusta).


The final decision of the French company will be taken and communicated to the Government next week, the paper adds.

THE French company Total are quitting their energy search after finding no evidence for the existence of natural gas in blocks 10 and 11 of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, according to local media.

Politis reports that the company is seriously contemplating withdrawing permanently from the Cypriot EEZ, whilst Sigmalive reports the French company spent millions of euros on surveys in the two blocks, but without success.

Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis said that Total had been in contact with the government since September regarding the situation.

Speaking on CyBC radio this morning, Lakkotrypis said the decision of the French company is not final and the situation will be clearer next week.

"The company informed us some months ago that it was having difficulty finding any structures, targets, in the blocks it had a licence for. They informed us last September they had not found any target to drill," Lakkotrypis said.

He said the situation has no connection to the recent Turkish offshore provocations.

Total was granted hydrocarbon exploration licenses in blocks 10 and 11 after signing two production sharing contracts with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in Nicosia in February in 2013.

Last month the Cyprus Energy Ministry announced that no exploitable quantities of hydrocarbons were found in an exploratory well in the "Onasagoras" reservoir, in Cyprus` exclusive economic zone block 9.

Referring to `Onasagoras`, the Minister of Energy said that drilling in sea depths like in Cyprus have a technical chance of success of only 26 percent.

ENI is the Operator of blocks 2, 3 and 9 of the Cyprus EEZ with 80% participating interest while KOGAS is partner in these blocks with a 20% participating interest. Hmmmm........Strange he mentioned this...He said the situation has no connection to the recent Turkish offshore provocations.

Cyprus - Nicosia anger at UN report "does not correspond with reality"

Cyprus - Nicosia anger at UN report "does not correspond with reality" (Famagusta).

Dissatisfaction and disappointment was expressed by the Government through the Government Spokesman, Nikos Christodoulides, with regard to the content of the Report of the UN Secretary-General about the activities of the United Nations in Cyprus.

Christodoulides said that the Government wishes to express its strong dissatisfaction and disappointment with regard to the content of the Report of the UN Secretary-General about the activities of the United Nations in Cyprus during the period 21 June 2014 to 15 December 2014.

With regard to the provocative actions of Turkey in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus, the Report presents the events in a way that does not correspond at all with reality, he said.

He also said the report has insufficient references to the humanitarian issue of the missing persons.

"This picture is a far cry from reality since it is known that Turkey, the occupying power, refuses to provide unimpeded access to more than 30 military areas in which, according to reliable information, there are mass graves, as well as to military archives, thereby obstructing significantly the work of the CMP and prolonging in this way the tragedy of the relatives of the missing," he said.

'Neo Ottoman Conqueror' Turkey: "We won't accept Greece-Egypt-Israeli Mediterranean deal"

'Neo Ottoman Conqueror' Turkey: "We won't accept Greece-Egypt-Israeli Mediterranean deal" (AA).

Any delimitation on the Mediterranean between Egypt and Greece will not be acceptable if it affects Turkey's national interest, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said.

Davutoglu made the remarks in an interview published Sunday in a Greek newspaper, To Vima, which he gave at the end of the third High-Level Cooperation Council meeting between Greece and Turkey in Athens on Dec. 6.

"If Greece signs the agreement with Egypt, we would not accept it if it affects our national interests. This agreement will not exist for us," the premier said.

Ankara believes there can be no demarcation in the Eastern Mediterranean without it.

He also called the trilateral cooperation between Greece-Cyprus-Cairo and Greece-Cyprus-Israel for natural resources "opportunism" that came at a "bad time.”

The Turkish premier said the gas pipeline imagined between Israel and Cyprus through Greece to Europe was unsustainable economically and technically.

He denied the cooperation deals were a threat to Turkey. "We do not feel any threat. No one can threaten us,” he said.

"In the Eastern Mediterranean, all arrangements, especially the boundaries on maritime zones should be made after negotiations with all parties. If two parties or three parties declare an Exclusive Economic Zone without consulting the other parties, who are also interested and have a legitimate interest, then it moves against the international law,” he said. Hmmm....While telling The EU parliament to stick their resolution on Cyprus where the sun doesn't shine.......'Advanced Islamist Dictatorship' logic  the Mediterranean sea is ours. I Guess that meeting today with the new EU representative went great.Read the full story here.

Turkey must work towards Cyprus solution to take part in energy matters - Gov. spokesman

Turkey must work towards Cyprus solution to take part in energy matters - Gov. spokesman. (Famagusta).

CYPRUS has urged Turkey to work towards a political settlement if it wants to join the dialogue on energy matters.

“Various countries of the region do participate in an ongoing dialogue concerning energy matters and if Turkey wants to be part of this discussion, it needs to work towards the solution of the Cyprus problem,” Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the Cyprus News Agency last night.

On Saturday Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey said they felt confident that talks between the two communities in Cyprus will resume shortly.

However, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his visiting Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu acknowledged that the two sides disagreed on key issues – with the division of the island being one of them — © FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE CYPRUS

Obama's BFF Turkey offers pipelines to Cyprus, Israel, Iraq.

Obama's BFF Turkey offers pipelines to Cyprus, Israel, Iraq.(HD).

Energy-hungry Turkey has offered to cooperate with its oil and gas-rich southern neighbors for the exploration and transportation of their hydrocarbon products to world markets via Turkey. It has particularly called out to Israel and Cyprus, which recently had problems over the legality of the licenses issued for petroleum exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

“Israeli officials, local officials in Greek Cyprus and representatives of the TRNC [Turkish Republic of the Northern Cyprus], they have all agreed on one reality: The natural gas to be produced from this region will get its utmost feasibility by a pipeline that will pass through Turkey. All relevant figures prove this idea,” Energy Minister Taner Yıldız told the Hürriyet Daily News in a comprehensive interview outlining the Turkish government’s energy policies regarding oil and gas reserves of its southern neighbors.

Yıldız held substantial meetings with acting Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and U.S. President Barack Obama’s special envoy for energy issues Carlos Pascual last week in Washington.
The meetings were crucially important as the two allies found themselves on opposite sides on a number of issues related to Baghdad-Ankara tension over the latter’s growing interest in making deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government and to the Turkey-Cyprus quarrel over the Greek Cypriot government’s ambitious moves for oil exploration in the disputed areas of the Mediterranean.

Although Yıldız underlines that Turkey appears to be the best route for these countries to flow their products to world markets, he is doing his best to show that Turkey is not in a position to abuse its geographical advantage in its potential talks with its neighbors.

“Turkey does not say ‘Well, you are obliged to pass through our territories, so let’s talk over this.’ It adopts a very realistic approach,” he said. “Instead,” Yıldız continued, “Turkey says it’s open to any sort of projects with the accomplishment of political stability in the region.”

The involvement of foreign energy companies from many western countries including the United States makes the situation a little more complicated as Turkey said it would not allow those companies operating on the island to do business in its territories.

Yıldız said he made clear to his American counterparts the Turkish position regarding Greek Cyprus’s operations and underlined that “We have seen that not only our correctness but also our rightfulness is being confirmed [by the U.S.].”

When it comes to cooperating with Israel on its energy projects, Yıldız drew attention to the fact that first there was a need for political feasibility to talk about these projects’ technical feasibility. The minister recalled that there were signs of this political feasibility after Israel apologized to Turkey but he wanted to underline that these projects could never be presented as the reasons for this apology. “They may well be the consequences of this apology,” he stressed. Hmmmm.... I thought Jews were supposed to be smart people, which Jew on Earth would trust Turkey to allow Israeli gas trough their pipeline?As i said before 'Israel has been 'discussed' a lot between Obama and Erdogan during his visit.Read the full story here.

Report: Israel’s Navy Seeks $760 Million Gas Field Defense Force.

"Israel's staunchest Ally" - Obama admin sells one of the most advanced anti-ship cruise missiles to Egypt

Report: Israel’s Navy Seeks $760 Million Gas Field Defense Force.(TA).Israel’s navy is scrambling to assemble a force of new warships worth $760 million to protect the country’s natural gas fields in the Mediterranean as the production from the first field discovered in 2009 went onstream this past weekend, reports UPI.

The navy wants 2-4 patrol-class vessels as well as unmanned aerial vehicles to detect threats such a suicide frogmen and anti-ship missiles.

Due to defense budget cuts Israel is hoping that the U.S. will foot some of the bill, a plausible expectation considering that an American company-Houston’s Noble Energy - is operating the gas fields.

According to UPI, the navy wants four 1,200-ton, long-endurance warships equipped with defensive missile systems to intercept anti-ship missiles, possessed by Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, aimed at production platforms.

Naval officials say the Defense Ministry has been in touch with several foreign shipbuilders, but no decision has been made on contracts.

UPI adds that to cover the area, which will have to cover an area larger than the size of the state itself, the navy is expected to acquire long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles. Another possibility is the missile-armed, remote-controlled robotic boat developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Haifa. Military sources say the craft, with a maximum speed of 42 miles per hour, could be useful against suicide boats manned by Hezbollah or Iranian Revolutionary Guard teams.

“The gas fields spanning a large area west of the coast of Israel significantly broaden the challenges facing the Israeli navy,” the Defense Ministry said in a recent a statement. “The protection of these strategic assets requires increased resources and extensive preparations.”Hmmmm.....Perhaps 'Israel's staunchest ally' could give the two frigates he wanted to donate to Turkey?Read the full story here.

Related: US frigate donation to Obama's BFF Erdogan ‘Sunk’.

"Turkey future Nr. 1 Arms dealer of the Middle East?" - Turkish unmanned aircraft to be produced serially.

"Turkey future Nr. 1 Arms dealer of the Middle East?" - Turkish unmanned aircraft to be produced serially.(HD).The serial production of Turkish local unmanned aircraft ANKA will begin as developer Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is set to sign a contract with the Defense Industry Undersecretary in one to two months, the undersecretary has said.

Some features of the craft are to be developed as well, according to Defense Industry Undersecretary Murad Bayer.

Bayar noted that ANKA is actually a national design development project and the final acceptance tests of the vehicle were completed last month. The tests included an over 18-hour-long test flight, demonstration of full endurance, 200 km data link range performance under winds reaching 45 knots and night take-offs and landings.

The next stage is the serial production of 10 ANKA systems for the Turkish Air Force, whose contract negotiations for it are already underway, Bayar said.

“These systems will have a more progressive design and features than regular design-development aircraft,” he said, adding that despite the plan to develop some characteristics, the ANKA system is already a successful unmanned aircraft as it is now.

In his remarks, he also mentioned that Turkish defense industrialists have been working on another rifle, the Milli Piyade Tüfeği, which they expect to reveal the details of to the public as soon as the qualification tests are completed successfully.The rifle will be particular to Turkey, the undersecretary added.

Turkey has initiated negotiations for selling ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle systems as well as CIRIT rocket systems, Atal helicopters and Altay tanks, Bayar said.

Accelerating its attempts to boost its arms exports to Gulf countries, Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan agreed to export its own laser-guided rocket system, known as the CIRIT, to the army of the United Arab Emirates for a total of $196.2 million.Read the full story here.

Iraqi MP Blasts Erdogan's Interfering Remarks

Iraqi MP Blasts Erdogan's Interfering Remarks.(Fars).Tehran - A senior Iraqi legislator condemned the recent interfering remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the internal affairs of Iraq, and called on the Baghdad government to revise its political and economic relations with Ankara."The Turkish prime minister had better resolve his country's internal affairs far from ethnic discrimination instead of interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs," Zuhair al-Araji from Iraq's White Bloc told FNA on Saturday. While millions of Kurds are deprived of their rights in Turkey, Erdogan is not entitled to criticize the Iraqi government for its deficiencies in dealing with different ethnic groups in the country, he stated. Araji asked the Iraqi government to revise its political and economic relations with Ankara and use other leverages at international levels to protest at Turkey's meddling in Iraq's internal affairs. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday branded Turkey a "hostile state" with a sectarian agenda, the latest in a series of bitter exchanges between the neighbors. Maliki was responding to comments made by the Turkish prime minister on Thursday in which Erdogan accused the Iraqi leader of fanning tensions between the country's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds with his "self-centered" ways. "The recent announcements by Mr. Erdogan represent another return to flagrant interference in Iraq's internal affairs," Maliki said in a statement on his website. "His announcements have a sectarian dimension. To insist on continuing these internal and regional policies will harm Turkish interests and make it a hostile state for all." Maliki also accused Turkey of trying to establish "hegemony" over the region. Read the full story here.