E A S T E R N M E D

Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and US-UE Commitment in the Face of Turkish Unilateralism The illegal drilling9 in Cyprus EEZ helps hinder disenfranchisement from imported gas that is of vital concern to counter Russian influence in the sector for the EU and the US. [...] The recognition is disputed by Ankara, based on the status of the breakaway “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” “(TRNC)” in the spirit of the Taksim policy, the two-state solution to the Cyprus problem to protect the rights of the separatists, not recognised by the United Nations and any other NATO and EU member. [...] The dispositions that ensure the said right should be included not just in the possible deal on the unification of the island but equally in the one of accession of Turkey into the EU. [...] Moreover, expanding the scope for remunerative alliances with such regional partners as Egypt23, the UAE24, and Israel25 via the hypothetical East Med Pipeline with the role of renewable energies would be a limiting factor to Turkey’s anti-western strategy.26 The 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act and the Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement27 have opened a new chap. [...] A formal meeting about Turkey’s future within the Euro-Atlantic alliance should be urgently convened in the framework of the much- needed counter-strategy to frustrate the Russo-Chinese encirclement in the Mediterranean and Europe.