Does the Cyprus EEZ follow, the Model of the Aegean Sea?
the US and Russia depending on the service of the national interests of both countries. A relative specimen is the meeting held in Moscow on August 9, 2016 between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan. When the American Vice President John Kerry warned the Turkish President that his country run the risk of being expelled from NATO if the death penalty was to be enacted by the Grand Turkish National Assembly (Kerry, 2016), Russia outstretched hand to President Erdogan on the basis of the service of common interests such as the commercial, touristic and energy ones and the establishment of a nuclear reactor in Akkuyu, which is estimated to cost about 20 billion US dollars (World Nuclear Association, 2016). In 2013 the trading volume between Russia and Turkey was around 34 billion dollars, with the Russian Minister of Energy Taner Yildiz indicating that it was not particularly ambitious goal to overcome these transactions worth over 100 billion dollars (Hurriet Turkish Daily News, 2013). Furthermore, the Turkish Minister of Energy underlined in a press conference that more than 500 Russian companies operate in his country and Turkish construction companies have profits of exceeding 50 billion dollars in transactions with Russia (Hurriet Turkish Daily News 2013). This policy has been badly injured after the crisis erupted between Turkey and Russia. The cause was the shooting down of a Su-24 by a Turkish F-16 in the air space of Turkey very close to the boarders with Syria. However, common interests and power games could not allow both countries to sacrifice their interests at the altar of a Su-24. 5.
Control of water resources through “Ataturk dams” (De Chatel, 2003). A relevant case is the “Peace Pipeline” channeling water from Turkey to the northern part of Cyprus (Daily Sabah, 2015). Therefore, Turkey possesses and control water recourses and expects to acquire nuclear power for civilian purposes. However, there is always the risk of producing nuclear weapons. This is not an easy task, mainly, due to the Russian surveillance, but it is an option not to be excluded. Accordingly, there exists an analysis, which is relevant to this issue, and depicts the main dimensions of the Turkish Nuclear Plan, underlining that: “Concerns over the Turkish nuclear plant facilities, [are] largely [expressed] because of nuclear’s high ‘hidden’ costs and waste disposal problems, environmental groups tend to oppose all nuclear projects. In the case of Turkey, the area is also prone to earthquakes, with a 6.2 Richter-scale earthquake having hit Adana, 180km from the plant site. While the plant is being designed to withstand earthquakes of up to 6.5 on
118
YIANNOS CHARALAMBIDES