Global Energy Center Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen writes for Security Europe on Turkey’s reluctance to participate in an Eastern Mediterranean gas project designed to alleviate the reliance on Russian supplies:

As Europe seeks to diversify its sources of natural gas as an alternative to the politically sensitive Russian supply, a massive off-shore gas source in the Mediterranean is ready for exploration and drilling. There are game-changing stakes at play.

Unfortunately, the Turkish leadership has threatened to use force to stop this from happening.

Last October, Turkey sent the BARBAROS, its geophysics exploration ship, accompanied by naval vessels, into the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone waters. In November 2014, Turkish naval commander Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu threatened the use of force against Greece, while speaking on board a Turkish naval corvette in Greek waters.

Read the full article here.

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