TRNC Energy Minister: Cyprus–Lebanon cable cannot be laid without Turkey’s permission

TRNC Economy and Energy Minister Hasan Taçoy said that the planned subsea electricity cable between the Republic of Cyprus and Lebanon cannot be laid without Turkey’s permission.

According to Taçoy, any work in maritime zones that Turkey considers its own requires coordination with Ankara. “If research, surveys, cable laying or any other maritime activity is planned in the Blue Homeland, no work can be carried out without the final say of the Republic of Türkiye,” the minister said. “Blue Homeland” is the term used in Turkey for the maritime zones over which Ankara claims rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to him, the route’s final destination makes no difference: “The fact that the destination is Lebanon or Israel does not change the rules.”

Taçoy recalled that seafarers are notified about cable-laying operations through the NAVTEX navigational warning system, and that in zones Turkey considers to fall under its jurisdiction, it issues such notices itself. A similar situation had already arisen with the Great Sea Interconnector project: at the time, Turkey intervened in the survey work, citing its sovereign rights.

The dispute is rooted in differing interpretations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Greece and the Republic of Cyprus take the view that islands confer the right to an exclusive economic zone, while Turkey, which has not signed the convention, does not recognise this position.