An eye on Turkey

Despite being labeled “historic,” the trilateral summit held in Nicosia on January 28 among Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras did not yield concrete results. The 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cyprus, Greece and Israel formally established the three countries’ will to strengthen energy cooperation and protect important infrastructure. The MoU also included a joint declaration of intent to lay an undersea electric cable linking Israel, Cyprus and Greece (Crete). But political wishes have yet to translate into actual projects. And on that front, the trilateral summit did not make significant advances. In Nicosia, the three leaders reiterated their “readiness to further explore projects such as the EastMed Pipeline” (emphasis added). The carefully worded statement rules out any commitment, not surprising given the question marks that surround the project, even before a feasibility study is completed. Given the technical challenges,