Archbishop says gas pipeline could pass through Turkey if that would serve Cyprus interests

In statements Sunday to the press, the primate of the Church of Cyprus noted that “we want to maintain good relations with all nations including Turkey".

"We are always open to anything that is in the interests of the Cyprus people, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and the other minorities. We have no reasons to oppose”, he said, replying to questions.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN led talks had been underway with a view to reunify the island under a federal roof. There had been a serious setback in the negotiations, which climaxed with the Turkish Cypriot’s leader decision to walk out of the talks on 29 March 2012, by unilaterally declaring that day’s meeting of the two leaders as the last.

Exploratory drilling conducted by Huston-based Noble Energy in Block 12 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, revealed a gross natural gas reserve between 3 to 9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) with a 60 percent probability of geologic success. Noble is expected to extract and transfer to Cyprus natural gas by late 2018.