Turkey obstructs Israel-Cyprus-Greece power grid connection

A new law to be enacted by Turkey next month could thwart the huge underwater power cable project by annexing economic waters claimed by Greece.

The Great Sea Interconnector is a planned interconnector between the Israeli, Cypriot and Greek power grids via the world’s longest underwater power cable. The project, extending over 1,200 kilometers, which would link the Israeli, Cypriot and Greek grids to mainland Europe, is moving ahead but may encounter a direct challenge from Turkey.

The plan awaits a cost-benefit analysis of the 330-kilometer section between Israel and Cyprus, which will be adopted within a few weeks. However, Turkey, which does not recognize the boundaries of the economic waters in the eastern Mediterranean in accordance with international law, is promoting a legislative process that could turn the move into an explosive regional issue.

Turkey, which is not a signatory to the Convention on the Continental Shelf and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), believes Greece’s Aegean Islands are a continuation of Anatolia. This is despite the prevailing belief in the international community that the islands are independent parts of the mainland that are not connected to the mainland. In other words, each island has an independent continental shelf as a result of which it is entitled to territorial waters extending out 12 nautical miles. Following a compromise, each island is entitled to six nautical miles.

The planned Turkish law

In an already tense situation, Tukey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plans to enact the "Blue Homeland" Law next month, based on a vision of Turkey controlling all areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean Sea and Black Sea. In practice, this would set that Turkish territorial waters extend out 12 nautical miles at the expense of Greek territories. This measure would harm the legal rights of the Greeks over the area, for fishing, energy, and underwater infrastructure for electricity and communication cables.

The Great Sea Interconnector project is already facing restrictions imposed by the Turks. A year ago, the Greeks decided to ignore Turkey's threats and declare a closed maritime area to begin deployment in the area of the islands of Kasos and Karpathos (between Rhodes and Crete). The Italian ship NG Worker is already anchored at the deployment site, but has been repeatedly threatened, with the Turks saying it will cut the cables, and Greece preferring to avoid a unilateral move, fearing a direct military confrontation.

Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, an expert on Turkey at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, explains that Turkey sees the alliance of Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, in all its aspects, as a security threat against it. "This is why they are promoting the bill that will unilaterally define the borders of the blue homeland. In this way, they will be able to fight with Greece legally and also see the issue of maritime borders as a pretext for war. As a result, the laying of a cable or any underwater infrastructure in the area is perceived from their perspective as a violation of the sovereignty of the blue homeland. I would not be surprised if this leads to an escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean."

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Israel needs the connection

Despite the danger of a direct confrontation with Turkey, Israel badly needs the interconnector to be implemented. Today, the Israeli electricity grid stands on its own. Such a project would connect Israel to neighboring countries, and also to the European electricity grid. The security benefit is enormous, and since in the escalation with Iran it is clear that critical infrastructures become targets.

By connecting to neighboring grids, Israel will be able, in an extreme scenario of damage to power plants, to purchase electricity from its neighbors. The same scenario could also be used in times of technical malfunctions or extremely large consumption.

A senior Greek official tells "Globes" that his country, Israel, and Cyprus are interested in promoting the interconnector, but Turkey does not care about international law or the rights of its neighbors. "Everything that happens in the Eastern Mediterranean must receive approval and support from the US. The Americans support the project, at all levels, but despite this, we know there is a close relationship between Trump and Erdogan.

"The section between Crete and Cyprus is the big problem, because of the Turkish factor. It's not new, but we are in a new chapter of the same problem with the blue homeland. The Turks are doing whatever they want, completely contrary to international law."

How will the project be financed?

This is also Cyprus’s motive, as the only country in the EU not connected to the European electricity grid. The three countries are awaiting the results of the examination of the Israeli-Cypriot section, which is needed to determine the cost-sharing mechanism.

The Israeli-Cypriot section has three unique challenges: the first - technical, the seabed. The second is economic, because unlike the Greek-Cypriot section - the EU does not intend to take part in the financing. Therefore, the parties are expected to turn to bank loans and the private market. In Greece, it is reported that international funds and energy companies from Europe, the US and the Middle East are already considering investing in the project.

The third challenge is Turkey. Following a Greek-nationalist military coup in Cyprus in 1974, Turkey invaded. The invasion, ostensibly intended to serve the Turkish minority in Cyprus, led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983, a de facto state that only Turkey recognizes. In return for that recognition, Ankara declares the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' right to economic waters. Unilaterally ignoring Northern Cyprus could also lead Turkey to act, because the de facto state has no security forces except for local police and its protector is Turkey.

To Israel's delight and Turkey’s displeasure, the Cypriots are willing to move forward, also because of their own internal economic considerations as Cyprus’s electricity rates are among the highest in the EU.

According to an article by Ambassador (retired) Michael Harari, a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center at Bar-Ilan University, Cyprus is supposed to cover a significant portion, at least, of the costs of the section between it and Greece.

The investment to connecting Cyprus and Greece will cost an estimated €1.9 billion, and about 35% of the funding will come from the EU. (€657 million). The balance is supposed to be divided between Cyprus, which will pay 63% (about €786 million), and Greece (€460 million).

Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructures said, "The project is currently in the final stages of the cost-benefit analysis, after which the cost-sharing phase between the countries will be completed. As for the timetables, all partners in the project are working to accelerate its progress, but this is a complex project whose completion is expected to take several years."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 28, 2026.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.