Turkey has started constructing what will be the world’s longest undersea water pipeline. The 107 kilometer pipe will draw water from the Dragon River and unite the Turkish mainland with northern Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. Proponents are hoping it will unify the island, divided for the past 39 years.
The suspended pipeline, moored to the floor of the seabed and well lower than where submarines can go, will carry freshwater from Turkish sources as much as 280 meters (919 feet) under water, Bloomberg is reporting. The first kilometer of pipe has been laid, in what will be a $484 million project.
The divided island is one of the most water-stressed places on Earth, and Turkey and Turkish Cypriots in the north have bickered with Cyprus over offshore natural gas discoveries recently.
The island is the mythological birthplace of the goddess of love Aphrodite.
Cypriot government environment commissioner Ioanna Panayiotou said that the pipeline is “not the best solution both in economic — too expensive — and environmental terms. Water is sensitive and might get polluted during the transfer.”
Others think that the water pipe might open the “channel” so that the Turkish north and Greek south can start mending old problems.
Greek Cypriots are already going ahead in their own way by building three more desalination plants to add to its current two plants.
Meanwhile, Turkey also plans on sending over a subsea transmission line to its northern parts as well.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
It’s naive to think this will lead to any sort of settlement however as the Greeks backed by the EU still insist any settlement must reflect the artificial border situation that was a result of British colonial needs.
Were Turkey to accept that as the basis, they’d lose everything and gain nothing. With that as the end result, Turkey has no reason to budge either.
The only viable solution to the problem facing the island is to allow Turkey to annex the North, and Greece to annex the South.
Unfortunately Greece wants to get a review of the results of the Greco-Turkish war during the early 1920s where they were routed and lost all of Anatolian Greece.
The situation in Cyprus is a result of British interference back then (imagine that).
It should have been divided back then, but instead became a British possession effectively freezing the situation on the island until the day Cyprus became independent. Unfrozen in time the Greeks and Turks started to fight against each other as if it were the 1920s all over again.
This time however in a much changed world the Greeks hoped to capitalize on European’s fear of Turkish power despite not having the power vs a vs Turkey to demand anything.
They pushed for ALL the island to be annexed to Greece, instead of the portion that would have been theirs had Cyprus been included in the final settlement of the war they had.
The stalemate years on resulted in the idiotic situation we have today The Greek portion of Cyprus unable to merge with Greece became an nonviable independent nation dependent on the EU to maintain a ruse of success which they did until the 2008 world economic collapse.
Turkey occupied the Turkish half and has never left.
Because of EU and Greek intransigence regarding the stupidity of making borders inviolable regardless of the idiocy and duplicity that was behind their creation, this problem will probably not be resolved in the foreseeable future.
So it’s a good thing the Turks are taking care of their portion.