Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Turkish Cypriot administration on Friday to advance plans for a natural gas pipeline stretching 97 kilometers from its southern coast to northern Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces took control of the north after a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), declared in 1983, is recognized only by Turkey.
The proposed pipeline would run from Alanya on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast to northern Cyprus and supply natural gas to power plants that now rely on liquid fuel.
Turkey aims to complete the engineering work by the end of 2026 and put the pipeline into operation in 2028. Converting the power plants to natural gas is intended to strengthen energy security in northern Cyprus, reduce electricity generation costs and limit the environmental effects of burning liquid fuel.
“With this memorandum of understanding, we are launching work on the natural gas pipeline that will connect our countries under the sea,” Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said at the signing ceremony.
The project would include transmission pipelines, receiving terminals and auxiliary facilities needed to provide northern Cyprus with access to natural gas, Yılmaz said.
The arrival of natural gas would mark “a new era” not only in electricity generation but also in transportation, agriculture, tourism, industry and household energy use, he added.
The project would strengthen energy security, support economic development and improve northern Cyprus’s competitiveness, Yılmaz stated. He linked the switch to natural gas to a transition toward an economy with lower carbon emissions and said the project would open “new horizons” for sustainable development.
Yılmaz had earlier had talks with Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and described the pipeline as a “historic project,” saying the two sides had been working on it for some time.
“We will take the concrete steps one by one in the period ahead,” Yılmaz said at a joint news conference.
During the visit Yılmaz also met with Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman at the presidential office in Nicosia.
Ankara would continue supporting projects aimed at increasing the prosperity and production capacity of the Turkish Cypriot community under a 2026 economic and financial cooperation agreement between the two sides, he added.
Yılmaz was accompanied by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı.
Bayraktar disclosed details of the proposed pipeline in May, saying a 97-kilometer natural gas link was needed between Turkey and northern Cyprus.
Bayraktar projected that engineering work would be completed this year and that the pipeline would begin operating in 2028.
The project was designed primarily to supply northern Cyprus with natural gas and allow power plants now using liquid fuel to switch to a cleaner energy source, Bayraktar said.
The pipeline could eventually operate in the opposite direction if natural gas is discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean, allowing supplies to flow through northern Cyprus to Turkey and potentially onward to Europe, Bayraktar added.
Officials have not publicly disclosed the projected cost or capacity of the pipeline, how construction would be financed, which side would bear the expense or the terms under which natural gas would be supplied to northern Cyprus. They have also not announced whether environmental and commercial feasibility assessments have been completed.
The project would expand the regional use of natural gas at a time when Turkey remains dependent on imports for most of its gas supply.
Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran are among Turkey’s main gas suppliers, leaving the country exposed to geopolitical tensions, supply disruptions and changes in international energy prices. Turkey has sought to reduce those risks through domestic production, liquefied natural gas imports and new supply agreements.
The pipeline project also comes amid a long-running dispute between Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus over energy resources and maritime jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey conducts hydrocarbon exploration and drilling in areas it considers part of its continental shelf and in zones where the Turkish Cypriot administration has authorized the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), to operate.
The internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus rejects the maritime and energy claims advanced by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration. It has granted drilling licenses to companies based in the United States and Europe in offshore blocks, including areas contested by Ankara.
Tensions over exploration activities peaked in 2019 and 2020, when Turkish drilling and seismic survey vessels operated in disputed waters around Cyprus and the European Union imposed measures in response. The dispute later continued at a lower level as much of Turkey’s offshore drilling activity shifted to the Black Sea.