Turkey intends to construct a pipeline beneath the Mediterranean in its latest attempt to take much-needed fresh water to Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus. The planned 100-kilometre (60-mile) pipeline is expected to be finished by 2004.
The project, which has been under discussion for some time, will pump water for drinking and irrigation from the southern coast of Turkey.
Previously, a scheme had been devised to float drinking water across the sea in specially designed balloons. This technique was abandoned when the containers repeatedly bursted.
The announcement by Turkish state minister Sukru Sina Gurel that the pipeline was to be implemented preceded talks between the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities on the future of the divided island.
Turkey has threatened to annex northern Cyprus if the southern part of the island goes ahead and joins the European Union prior to a settlement. While the construction of an underwater pipeline connecting them may not in itself bring this possibility any closer, it would certainly be seen as a powerful statement of the close ties that bind Northern Cyprus to Turkey.
Cyprus has remained divided into the Turkish Cypriots-controlled north and the Greek Cypriots-dominated south since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in the wake of a failed coup seeking union with Athens.
Water shortage is a long-standing problem on the island. The Cyprus government has been taking water rationing measures for several years. (Albawaba.com)
