Πως η Άγκυρα λύνει το Κυπριακό

Άρθρο «Forbes»

Ο Ναμί δίνει συνέντευξη σαν υπ. Εξωτερικών της Κύπρου κι εμείς «χάσκουμε»

Σε άρθρο με τίτλο «Obama's Secret Weapon Against Putin's Crimea Vote?» ο ψευδουπουργός Οζντίλ Ναμί λύνει το Κυπριακό, με αγωγό μέσω Τουρκίας και «απομονώνοντας» τους Ρώσους. Όλα αυτά μένουν αναπάντητα από την κυβέρνησή μας, η οποία ασχολείται με επικοινωνιακά μηνύματα για το πόσο καλά πάμε ως οικονομία και ως χώρα... Ο κ. Ναμί, αλώνοντας τα διεθνή σαλόνια, μιλά στον συντάκτη του περιοδικού σαν  «foreign minister of Cyprus» και υποδεικνύει ότι πολύ σύντομα, μέσω της λύσης που έρχεται, θα υλοποιηθεί η μεταφορά φυσικού αερίου στην Ευρώπη μέσω Τουρκίας και η απεξάρτηση της ευρωπαϊκής αγοράς από τη Ρωσία. Ο κ. Ναμί είναι τόσο συγκεκριμένος και διαβασμένος, που δείχνει τουλάχιστον να έχει πλάνο για τη λύση. Στην ε/κ πλευρά, αυτή τη στιγμή, δεν γνωρίζουμε τι θέλουμε να κάνουμε με το φυσικό αέριο, μεταθέτουμε κάθε ενέργεια εξόρυξης για αργότερα, καθιστώντας την εκμετάλλευση του φυσικού μας πλούτου δικοινοτικό θέμα που θα διακανονιστεί με τη λύση. Διαβάζοντας τη συνέντευξη, τμήμα της οποίας σας παραθέτουμε στα αγγλικά, και ακούγοντας χθες τον Πρόεδρο Αναστασιάδη στο μνημόσυνο του Ευαγόρα Παλληκαρίδη να μας μιλά με εθνικό ελληνικό πάθος για τον ελληνισμό και τους «αγώνες που δίνει», απορώ τελικά αν μας αξίζει κάτι καλύτερο από αυτό που βιώνουμε: μια πορεία προς το άγνωστο στο εθνικό μας θέμα, κομπάρσοι των Τ/Κ που γνωρίζουν τα πάντα για το Κυπριακό και πού πάμε, όπως θα διαβάσετε στη συνέντευξη Ναμί. 

Τμήμα συνέντευξης ψευδοϋπουργού Οζντίλ Ναμί στο περιοδικό «Forbes» που αφορά την Κύπρο, του Richard Miniter

«Obama's Secret Weapon Against Putin's Crimea Vote?»

…Yet, behind the scenes, the White House seems to be developing a unique strategy to counter Russian adventurism.

Hours after he left a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, the foreign minister of Cyprus, Ozdil Nami, sat down with me. “There is a [new] sense of optimism” regarding Cyprus, he said.

Perversely, Putin and energy are the reasons. Russian premier Vladimir Putin has raised natural-gas prices on the Ukraine and implicitly threatened to do the same to America’s European allies, mainly France and Germany. Western Europe depends on Russian natural gas to supply more than one-third of its power and heat.

As a result, Europe is skittish about confronting Putin. Higher energy prices would anger voters and slow its economy.

Making NATO nations less dependent on Russia–the nation alliance exists to defend against–has become a new priority for the Obama Administration. Yet, the Administration wants to move paper, not ships or tanks.

That’s where Cyprus comes in. The eastern Mediterranean island has discovered vast new fields of natural gas off its shores. Israel made a similarly large offshore find in its waters near Cyprus. Given its proximity, the Israelis will locate much of their hydrocarbon recovery infrastructure in Cyprus. Taken together, Cyprus is poised to become a major energy producer.

So weaning Western Europe (and Ukraine) off Russian gas means bringing Cyprus’ energy on line as soon as possible. And that means reuniting the Turkish and Greek parts of that divided island–a process that has been underway since 2004 and has accelerated in 2009–is now a much higher priority for Washington and Brussels.

The foreign minister, who played a key role in 2008-2010 reunification talks, champions a $1 billion pipeline project to deliver natural gas to Turkey and onward to Europe. Bringing Cyprus’ natural gas fields on stream “would be a welcome development,” he said, that would lower the island’s sky-high electricity costs, create well-paying jobs, and spur foreign direct investment. A water pipeline linking Turkey and Cyprus traces a route similar to the planned gas pipeline. That water pipeline begins delivering fresh water to Cyprus later this year.

When asked about foreign policy implications, he stressed that energy and economic inter-dependence would promote peace between Israel and Turkey as between the European Union and Turkey. What about Russia?

Wouldn’t Cyprus natural gas undercut Russia’s pricing power and make Europe more energy independent? Foreign minister Nami didn’t want to talk about those geopolitics, though he conceded that the Crimean crisis “may have increased interest” among diplomats in Washington and Brussels.

The Russian invasion, he said, caused “great concern and disbelief…There was no bloodshed [in Crimea] and no U.N. resolutions” authorizing Russian auction. It was a bolt from the blue.

He dismissed any parallels between Cyprus and Crimea. There were United Nations’ resolutions calling for peace keepers for almost a decade before the Turkish army invaded Cyprus in 1974. Greek and Turkish speaking Cypriots were actually killing each, burning public buildings and houses of worship. Then, in what the foreign minister called a “coup d’etat” brought in a new government that threatened to disenfranchise Turkish speakers and forcibly transfer the sovereignty of the nation island to Greece. Only then, he pointed out, did the Turkish army arrive.

In Crimea, he added, there were none of these things. Ukrainians of all tongues and faiths (the Crimean Tatars are overwhelmingly Muslim) were peacefully coexisting until the Russian troops left their bases less than a month ago.

Though he didn’t touch on the subject, some intelligence analysts are now concerned that Crimea could become another Kosovo–with Russians covertly encouraging attacks on Ukrainian speakers and Tartars living in the Crimea. Such attacks could touch off a wave of ever-rising reprisals and counter-strikes. That would give Russia an excuse to devour the rest of neighboring Ukraine.

Meanwhile, back in Cyprus, political and religious tranquility is more strongly felt than any time since the 1950s. Greek Orthodox, Maronite Christian and Muslim leaders recently issued a joint statement supporting unification, peace and mutual respect. Churches are re-opening in the Muslim-majority Northern Cyprus and mosques once again host prayer services in Greek Orthodox-majority southern part of the island.

We are seeking “problem-free exploration of hydrocarbons,” the minister said. He hopes for unified Cyprus that is prosperous and peaceful. There is every sign that Cyprus is on track to become a united, fully integrated member of the European Union. Its currency will be the euro and its hydrocarbons will make Europe less dependent on Russia.

And Cyprus’ rise help punish Putin aggression? The Minister is too professional to take the bait–but the Obama Administration seems to have stumbled on a winning strategy.

ΠΗΓΗ : OFFSITE, 19/03/2014