What Was Ayşe Doing on Holiday?
By Dr. Nurfer TERCAN
Ayşe, the heroine of our story, was said to be very fond of the famous English literature. And one day, while reading the famous tragedy by William Shakespeare, she learns that part of it takes place in a port city in Cyprus.
Do you remember? Othello, his wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and his trusted adviser Iago. In this work you can live through every thrilling emotion there is, such as racism, love, jealousy and betrayal. And if you say let us not read it but watch it instead; the play Othello was brought to the silver screen no fewer than four times in the twentieth century. The most impressive is the 1952 USA production, adapted for the screen by Orson Welles from W. Shakespeare’s work of the same name. The production and the leading role, too, are Orson Welles’s. The film was shot not in Famagusta, where the story takes place, but in Venice. As for the time in which the story is set, it is the years just before the Ottoman conquest of Famagusta.
It was filmed and brought to the silver screen again and again in 1906, 1965 and 1995. The opera of Othello, for its part, was composed in 1887 by G. Verdi, who left his mark on the nineteenth century.
As we think over these lines, I am sure that the most painful frames of the policies scattered from the ashes of Mr Churchill’s cigar are probably passing before our eyes.
Our Ayşe tells, in the following lines, how the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare, on whose trail she had set out, describes Cyprus in his work “Othello”: “When news arrives that the Ottoman fleet is approaching Cyprus, Othello is immediately sent there to defend the island. It is in fact quite clear that Shakespeare’s aim was not to recount a historical event. The message he wanted to deliver to its target was, by stating that Othello was a commander great and important enough to be appointed to such a mission, and by pointing to the new situation of Cyprus after the sinking of the Ottoman ships, to have it engraved, stroke by stroke, into people’s minds.
“To this day no geography has been discovered in the new world that possesses, for the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, a strategic importance equal to that carried by the Mediterranean basin and the island of Cyprus lying within this basin.” This is how William Shakespeare described Cyprus in his work “Othello”.
As regards the way the English perceived the Turks in that period, Othello owes the transformation of his world of mind, whose suspicions were carefully tended and constructed, to the turquoise of the dangerous Mediterranean waters. The fears of the Venetians at the moment when the Ottomans were on their way to Cyprus with very strong preparations are for those who can read the message conveyed through Shakespeare. So that it may be understood that the rising power of the Ottomans was being staged…
Indeed, Cyprus, which from past to present has remained under the rule of many states, from the Egyptian Empire to Byzantium and from there to the Ottoman State, has a highly strategic position in geopolitical terms. Once upon a time, thanks to Ayşe’s interest in holidays, we have perhaps come to understand better the problem, which no one wishes to see resolved, of the resources of the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus in the world of energy.
And so, with our Othello Macron of 2020 too, the writers of the same mind once again set about creating a hero and pushing him onto the stage. That Othello Macron of ours did not forget the bowl on top of his head, picked it up and set off, sought his forbidden breath in Beirut, yet could not find it.
Since 2003 the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has declared Exclusive Economic Zones in order to bring the potential hydrocarbon resources in the region into production, and has begun to sign oil and natural gas exploration agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The American company Noble Energy, which began operations in the region in September 2011, announced in December that it had found a reserve of 140 billion m3 in the ‘Aphrodite’ field. As the EEZs of the Northern and Southern Cypriot states overlap, and as some of the areas licensed by the GCA lie in the overlapping sections, the necessary agreements were signed in September 2011 between the TRNC and the State of the Republic of Türkiye, and TPAO was granted oil and natural gas exploration licences around the island. The picture below shows the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the TRNC and the GCA together with the natural gas reserves found in the Eastern Mediterranean.
If we look at the lines the figures point to; the discovered Aphrodite, Tamar and Leviathan fields hold a total reserve of about 1 trillion m3. When we look at proven reserves in the world, Russia has 45 trillion m3, Iran 30 trillion m3 and Qatar 25 trillion m3 of natural gas resources. In 2015 the EU, the second largest consumer, consumed 402 billion m3 and Türkiye 43.6 billion m3 of natural gas. In terms of energy specifically, it is seen that the proven reserves in the region are not all that important for diversifying the world’s natural gas demand. However, when we look at the big picture, the island of Cyprus is of critical importance for the USA and Russia, which want to widen their sphere of influence in Africa, the Middle East and Türkiye (and therefore the EU). To be able to grasp the developments in the region, we need to know that the ends of the energy lines in the Eastern Mediterranean extend, together with Cyprus, Greece and Türkiye, as far as Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the USA, Russia and China.
If we look at the number of countries sitting on top of the Global Macro, we may ask of the energy resources in the region, “for whom will they be enough”. That the target is of course not only the Eastern Mediterranean we can see when we look from the Caspian Sea to Syria, from Kyrgyzstan to India, and from the Arabian Peninsula to the hilltop men in the Golan. As for Türkiye in particular; from this we can also understand that it holds an important place because it is the centre of Europe, Asia, Russia and Africa. Viewed from an economic standpoint, the most suitable route for both Israeli and Cypriot gas to reach the EU market is to build a new line that would be connected to the pipelines in Türkiye. However, under present conditions, unless a solution is reached in Cyprus, it does not seem possible for the gas in the region to be delivered to Türkiye by pipeline. As for Israeli gas, the option of importing it by way of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is the most important heading. Even so, considering the status of the Caspian Sea together with the power of the Turkic Council in Azerbaijan reduces this impossibility.
The West’s trial with the carrot will go on for quite some time yet. For when one looked at the figures, it had become apparent that what was aimed at, rather than the entry of the region’s gas into the EU market, was that we give up our rights over Cyprus and that a solution be reached in the form the West wants, when the victory of the elections arrived with the Honourable Ersin Tatar. Alongside the commercial exploitation of natural gas resources for the economies of Cyprus and Israel, the Mediterranean Navtexes, which point to the New Silk Road that is drawn every day, will be on our agenda somewhat more. From the turquoise of the Eastern Mediterranean to the navy blue of the Aegean, to the equation of the Marmara and to the Fatih of the Black Sea, everything is only just beginning.
Important Note: The reason we began our article with a reference to the name ‘Ayşe’, the most important Password of the independence of Cyprus, is to commemorate a password of victory with a little smile and a little thought.
With a brief remembrance, I take the occasion of this article to present my respects to the esteemed Prof. Dr. Ayşe Güneş Ayata.
The independence password of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: “Let Ayşe go on holiday.”
During the ceasefire that followed the First Peace Operation, the Greek Cypriots had not given up their wish to have the say over the whole of the island, and the pressures they applied to our kinsmen had increased mercilessly. As a result of the failure to reach a solution in the talks, on 12 August 1974 Türkiye had declared at the meeting in Geneva that a second operation could be launched. On the morning of 11 August, Bülent Ecevit had given the following message to Prof. Haluk Ulman, who was serving in the delegation in Geneva: “Tell Mr Turan Güneş, Ayşe wanted to go on holiday. Her preparations are complete. If his business is going to take long, I will tell her to go.” Ayşe was the daughter of Foreign Minister Turan Güneş. According to the password Ecevit and Güneş had agreed on beforehand, when the words “Let Ayşe go on holiday” were spoken, the second operation would begin.
I also remember with Respect and Mercy the Prime Minister of the time, the late Honourable Bülent Ecevit, and the Foreign Minister, the late Honourable Turan Güneş, who lie at the foundation of the elections of 2020 that ended in victory.
Keywords: William Shakespeare USA Mediterranean
Translated from the Turkish original.