86116 - Transcription: East Med pipeline tosses aside Turkey

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Athina Kehagias

The developments in the Middle East have changed all the data and a situation which is very positive for the East Med pipeline has taken shape. All those who did not believe that the East Med pipeline could be possible, and that it would actually happen in the end, now they see that they have to reposition themselves, because quite simply the confrontation which exists between Erdogan specifically, ie, of Turkey against Israel and Erdogan’s pro Hamas position, changed the entire context completely and consequently now we see that we will do the market test, we know that the pipeline is feasible, we are moving to a next stage, at the beginning of 2024, we will still proceed with the maturation of the East Med pipeline as a PCI and this practically means that, while we had something that we weren’t sure that it would take place, on account of the war, not to mention the war going on in Israel between Israel and Hamas, and of course Erdogan’s pro Hamas position, the project has been unblocked. Because imagine if Greece was pro Hamas, and if Turkey was in favor of Israel, what would be the situation in relation to the pipeline at this point of time. Therefore it is wise to have this entire big picture in order to know that the decisions taken by Greece, and the decisions and the positions of Turkey, have placed some of us within the pipeline issue and others outside it. And it is very important because we function within the Law of the Sea, the International Law, the European context, the NATO context, whereas Turkey does not. And the cost that Turkey will suffer is that it will be tossed outside the pipeline issue, Greece will be within, and we will be able to implement this project, which is of enormous proportions, but also of great consequences for the entire region. So what we have to keep in mind is that this project is embedded within the context of the high strategy of Rimland, in contrast with the placement of Turkey in the Heartland and it practically means that, we will have more allies coming into the project, because at this point we are already researching the comparative scales, we are already researching the market which wants to bet upon this project, because now everyone can see that it is very important and necessary.