The Turkish government has issued a navtex, a message used to transmit information to seaborne vessels, to warn sailors of planned seabed surveys in the waters between its southern coast and Cyprus, ahead of the planned construction of a natural gas pipeline to the island.

The navtex will be in effect between Monday and December 31, with the seabed surveys set to be carried out by four vessels; the Denar Pathfinder, the Denar Echo, the Denar Explorer, and the Kirici.

As such, the Turkish government has requested that “seafarers passing through the area … maintain a safe distance from the work vessels”.

A memorandum of understanding for the pipeline’s construction was signed by the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities on July 10, with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz having said at the time that “this step taken in the energy sector will be a historic turning point in cooperation between the two countries”.

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Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel had said that “the project is not for today, but for future generations”, and that “it is a demonstration of our will to leave a stronger, more sustainable and more competitive country for our children”.

Bayraktar had explained the technical aspects of the pipeline, saying that it will stretch from Anamur, in Turkey’s Mersin, to the Teknecik power station, located just outside Kyrenia.

Bayraktar also said that the project would in fact consist of two parallel pipelines, each 56cm in diameter, thus allowing the system to be “bidirectional”, meaning that natural gas will be able to be transported to Cyprus from Turkey, and to Turkey from Cyprus.

The pipelines will stretch a total of 101 kilometres, of which 97km will be under the Levantine Sea.

Republic of Cyprus, EU criticised plans

The project has not won universal acclaim, however, with the Republic of Cyprus’ permanent representative to the United Nations Maria Michael having penned a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres protesting the agreement reached between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot authorities regarding the pipeline’s construction.

“The signing of the purported ‘memorandum of understanding’ constitutes yet another deliberate and provocative action by Turkey, in violation of international law, including the relevant resolutions of the security council on Cyprus,” she wrote.

She described the gas pipeline agreement as “null and void, and, thus, devoid of any legal effect”, writing that “the illegal secessionist entity established in the occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus lacks international legal personality”.

The pipeline has also faced criticism from the European Union, with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas having called on Turkey to “respect” the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereignty.

“The EU expects Ankara to respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of all member states,” she said in July.

‘It seems we have upset some people’

In response to this criticism, Yilmaz quipped last month that “it seems we have upset some people”.

“I want to express that the voices raised from various circles, especially from the Greek Cypriot side, against these humanitarian and perfectly legal projects are proof of how right we are in what we are doing. It seems we have upset some people,” he said.

He added that “regardless of what anyone says, we will continue to support what is right, what benefits the TRNC, and what will increase the wellbeing of our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters”.