The visit to Israel this week of Özdil Nami, so called "foreign minister" of the self-styled "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", has landed Israel in hot water with its ally in the southern part of the divided island.
Nami was a keynote speaker at the Israel Energy and Business Convention 2014 in Tel Aviv - at exactly the same time that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was visiting Cyprus and meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides.
Northern Cyprus was occupied by Turkey in 1974 and its government is not recognized by any country, excepting Turkey. Nami's visit was unofficial, but it is unlikely that it would have gone ahead without the consent of both Ankara and Jerusalem.
The discovery of vast natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean has enmeshed Turkey, Israel and Cyprus in a web of shifting alliances and conflicts, which are complicated by the shaky relations between Israel and Turkey, the largest energy consumer in the region, and the ongoing division of Cyprus.
Nami's participation in the conference was omitted from the program.
Another speaker, Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC) head Toula Onoufriou, expressed her "shock” at the participation of "a so-called official from a pseudo state, which is the result of the continuous occupation and invasion of Cyprus by Turkey,” according the Famagusta Gazette, based in the southern part of the island which is a member of the European Union ..................http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.625031
6/11/14
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Related:
Greece, Egypt, Cyprus urge Turkey to end gas search. (“The ministers deplored the recent illegal actions perpetrated within Cyprus’s EEZ")
Cypriot EEZ: EU leaders seriously concerned at Cyprus, Turkey tensions
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Venizelos’ statement regarding the presence of the Turkish research vessel Barbaros within the Cypriot EEZ
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