# The Eastern Mediterranean gas field

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Eastern Mediterranean gas field," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/eastern-mediterranean-gas/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The natural gas discovered off the south-eastern coast of Cyprus and running toward Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, which John Kiriakou identifies as the real source of Greek–Turkish tension. Turkey feels excluded although none of the gas lies in its waters; and although the founding agreement acknowledged a Palestinian share, Israel decides its size — an amount Kiriakou predicts will be zero.*

- **Location:** Off south-eastern Cyprus, stretching toward Lebanon, Israel and Palestine
- **Who is lifting it:** Israeli, Cypriot, Greek and American companies
- **Turkey''s position:** Cut out, though none of the discovered gas is in Turkish waters
- **Kiriakou''s suggestion:** Share some of the wealth and keep everybody happy
- **Recent incident:** A Turkish warship sent to confront a French exploration vessel
- **The Palestinian share:** Acknowledged in principle; the amount is Israel''s to decide

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) identifies the gas field rather than [the islands](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/imia-crisis) as the serious point of friction in the Eastern Mediterranean. *"Vast amounts of natural gas have been found off the south-eastern coast of Cyprus, stretching to Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, and the Israelis, the Cypriots, the Greeks and American oil companies have begun exploring, testing and lifting some of that gas."*[1][2]

## Turkey

*"The Turks feel cut out. And although none of that gas as has been discovered yet is in Turkish territorial waters, I think probably a wise thing to do might be to share some of the wealth with the Turks and keep everybody happy."* The current state of play is a standoff: *"the Turks recently sent a battleship to confront a French oil exploration ship, and so there's very little going on in the way of exploration right now."*[2][3]

## The Palestinian share

The second dispute Kiriakou raises is about who gets paid. *"This is a problem also for the Israelis and the Palestinians, because much of that field is accessible from Gaza, from Palestine. And in the original agreement between all these different countries there was an acknowledgment that Palestinians own some of this gas — but that it would be up to the Israeli government to decide how much of the money the Palestinians get. And you know what the answer is going to be: it's going to be zero."*[3][4]

## See also

- [Imia Crisis](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/imia-crisis)
- [The Green Line in Nicosia](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cyprus-green-line)
- [Israeli property acquisition in Greece and Cyprus](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israeli-property-acquisition-in-greece-and-cyprus)
- [Lebanon-Israeli Conflict](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/lebanon-israeli-conflict)
- [Proposals to relocate the Palestinians](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/proposals-to-relocate-the-palestinians)

## Sources

1. Iran-Israel Possible Open War (2024-04-18), at 33:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpQfO_oTsQ&t=1994s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-04-18-dr-david-oualaalou-iran-israel-possible-open-war/
2. Iran-Israel Possible Open War (2024-04-18), at 33:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpQfO_oTsQ&t=2025s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-04-18-dr-david-oualaalou-iran-israel-possible-open-war/
3. Iran-Israel Possible Open War (2024-04-18), at 34:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpQfO_oTsQ&t=2057s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-04-18-dr-david-oualaalou-iran-israel-possible-open-war/
4. Iran-Israel Possible Open War (2024-04-18), at 34:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpQfO_oTsQ&t=2089s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-04-18-dr-david-oualaalou-iran-israel-possible-open-war/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/eastern-mediterranean-gas/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt