Greece, Greek Cypriot administration sign pact to connect energy grids

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have signed a framework of understanding for a project to connect their energy grids , according to local media.

The framework was signed by Greek Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou and his Greek counterpart Theodoros Skylakakis, with the laying of cables under the sea for Great Sea Interconnector project set to resume soon, the Cyprus Mail daily reported on Saturday.

The project is of strategic importance for both parties as well the whole EU, the joint statement said.

It will connect the administration to the EU grid, facilitate its energy transformation, and promote Greece’s goal of becoming a clean energy corridor, the statement added.

When the project is completed, the cable will be the longest high-voltage direct current submarine cable in the world, stretching 1,240 kilometers (770 miles) and reaching depths of 3,000 meters (9,842 feet).

The ambitious and controversial project reportedly planned to pass through the overlapping jurisdiction claims on maritime borders in the Mediterranean between Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration, and Türkiye.

The Greek Cypriot administration, which also drew attention to the cost of the project, previously hesitated to take such steps.

- Decades-long dispute

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.