Natural Gas Dispute
The Leviathan gas field, a large natural gas field located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel, was discovered in June 2010. Israeli energy firm Delek Group is seeking to work with Cyprus on natural gas exploration and extraction where Delek is already active.
According to Turkish media reports in September 2011, Israel Air Force fighter planes flew through the airspace of Cyprus after taking off to face a Turkish seismic research ship in the Eastern Mediterranean. The reports added that Turkey responded by launching two fighters to track the Israeli planes, at which point the Israeli fighter jets returned to Israeli airspace. The Turkish research vessel was seen as a Turkish provocation in the dispute over gas fields. The operation of Israeli planes in Cyprus airspace was interpreted as a further sign of close Israel-Cyprus ties and as a challenge to Turkey. In May 2012, the Turkish Army command said its fighter jets chased an Israeli plane out of Turkish occupied Cypriot airspace. In May 2012 Cyprus also denied a report that Israel planned to deploy 20,000 troops in Cyprus to protect Israelis working on energy projects, as Turkey claimed.
Cyprus and Israel signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate offshore gas exploration. Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou and Israel's Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau signed the deal in Nicosia. The intent is to facilitate a search for mineral deposits in the east Mediterranean where huge natural gas reserves have been discovered. Turkish sources said that the Foreign Ministry had summoned Israel's Ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, and expressed discontent over the agreement.
Read more about this topic: Israeli-Turkish Relations
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