Taner Yildiz Says Cypriot Gas Cannot Travel Through Turkey

Turkish Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz has said that transportation of Cypriot gas through Turkey cannot happen because of a dispute with Israel.

He said the transit of the gas would be "impossible", the Trend news agency quotes him as saying to the Vatan newspaper today.

Yesterday, Today's Zaman reported that Minister Yildiz said that Turkey was the optimal route for the gas but that the dispute with Israel was preventing

"All the feasibility studies conducted are now pointing to Turkey [as the most suitable transportation route]," he said. "If we did not have the Mavi Marmara issue with Israel, there could have been many joint projects between us -- and the transportation of natural gas [from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe] would be at the top of the list of those projects. And that would have been only right to do. Yet that natural gas pipeline is not worthy of nine lives we lost."

Today the Vatan newspaper reports that he said attacks on a Turkish ship in 2009, killing nine, by Israel and Israel's refusal to apologise meant that cooperation with Cyprus could not go ahead.

"This project could be implemented if there was not the history of the May 31, 2009 events," the Trend news agency reports him as saying today.