Open AccessMaritime Dynamics and Energy Security in the Eastern Mediterranean: Analyzing the Blue Homeland Doctrine
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Energy resources constitute a fundamental necessity for the sustenance of nations, with their security being a critical facet of both national and economic stability. The Eastern Mediterranean, a pivotal route for the global transportation of energy resources, notably oil and natural gas, plays a significant role in this context. It is established that over half of the world's petroleum products are transported via maritime routes, underscoring the strategic importance of this region. The presence of contested zones involving the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Turkey, the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (GASC), and Greece, however, raises concerns regarding the security of these maritime corridors. This study commences with an exposition of the concepts of energy and its associated security, followed by an analysis of the Eastern Mediterranean's strategic relevance and the role of the TRNC. Central to this discussion is the Blue Homeland doctrine, a foreign policy approach that prioritizes maritime security interests of the state. The doctrine is dissected to elucidate its implications for regional maritime dynamics. Data pertaining to cargo transportation within the Eastern Mediterranean is presented, highlighting the region's significance in terms of security. The study then pivots to an exploration of the Blue Homeland doctrine, examining its application and impact on the region. Notably, the study avoids first-person perspectives, adhering to a passive voice to maintain academic rigor.
1. Introduction
Energy and energy resources have become crucial factors in establishing the international balance of power since the Industrial Revolution. Their impact in interstate relations has consistently grown over time. Energy resources are crucial for the prosperity and development of countries (Üçgül & Elibüyük, 2017).
Throughout history, energy resources have consistently played a crucial role and have frequently been a significant catalyst for conflicts between nations. The marine sector has experienced the most significant growth in cargo volume as a result of globalization and increased world trade. The security of energy has emerged as a significant topic of discussion, alongside the rise in marine traffic and energy challenges.
Upon analyzing the architecture of global energy security, it becomes evident that there are four significant elements encompassed by the Four A approach (Hatipoğlu, 2019):
Availability: Availability has two important dimensions. It is often stated that resources such as oil and natural gas are limited. Here, availability is about whether a resource exists or not.
Accessibility: Many oil and natural gas reserves of different sizes in the world cannot enter the economic cycle because their extraction is too costly. Even if these resources are extracted to the surface, their transportation from where they are extracted to the geographies where they are needed often arises as a security problem.
Affordability: Economic theory says that the price mechanism will balance supply and demand in the market in the long run. Energy resources also meet non-negotiable needs such as heating and electricity production. This constant and urgent need for energy makes keeping energy prices at a reasonable level a security priority.
Social Acceptability: This dimension is related to the interaction of energy security with the environment and society. Energy resources have many positive and negative effects on the lives of communities on the roads where they are extracted and transmitted (Hatipoğlu, 2019).
Maritime transportation forms the backbone of international trade. International maritime trade is under the influence of developments in various fields. These elements are global new formations in maritime transportation, energy security, oil prices, transportation costs, reducing carbon emissions resulting from international transportation, implementation of climate change measures, sustainable environmental security, cooperation on social responsibility, piracy, and related costs (Kalaycı, 2017). As the trends emerging today become more localized, by 2050 a model will develop that places greater emphasis on regional linkages, close and friendly countries, economic blocs for regional free trade, and protectionist policies to protect some sensitive and/or strategically important sectors. Supply chains, trade, and strategic alliances have long been shaped by oil industry interests. Increasing adoption of renewable energy and reduced dependence on oil imports will lead to regional alliances on energy systems in the long term. All of these changes will have an impact on trade routes. (7deniz, 2023). All these dynamics and developments will cause changes in the energy corridors, causing security in these corridors to become even more important.
The use of renewable energy sources instead of traditional energy sources creates a significant impact at every point of energy policy. Many areas, from energy supply to pricing, from access and transportation costs to international relations, are affected by the source chosen for energy production. Undoubtedly, the area where this effect is most clearly seen is energy security. Renewable energy may create radical changes in the traditional understanding of energy security and, on the other hand, may bring new risks to the agenda. The dominance of renewable energy in energy production will deeply affect its structure, which is based on market instability, technical problems, and physical threats ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters, which are the most important risks to traditional energy security (Çitak & Pala, 2016).
Energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has a large share as the route of transportation of energy cargoes in the world, is important not only for Turkey but also for all countries using this maritime area. For this reason, this study analyzes the relations and energy security between the Eastern Mediterranean and the riparian countries in terms of the Blue Homeland doctrine.
The Blue Homeland Doctrine is based on the theory of maritime sovereignty, a classical geopolitical theory. It seems that the concept of a Blue Homeland is based on an understanding put forward by US President Harry S. Truman in 1947. With the understanding that there are serious oil reserves in the seas and the cost of processing this oil becoming cheaper in parallel with developing technology, the USA began to turn to natural resources in the seas. In order to extract and process the oil in the seas, the USA has developed an understanding that accepts that the seas are also a part of the country. This understanding developed by the USA manifested itself in the Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed in 1958. The formalization of the concept of the continental shelf with the Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea signed in 1958 is the product of this new understanding developed by the USA. Living and non-living creatures in the blue homeland, which constitutes almost half of Turkey's landmass, are included in the scope of Turkey's Blue Homeland, as are valuable minerals such as natural gas and oil at the bottom of the seas and the air mass covering this body of water (Murat, 2022).
In today's world, changing dynamics and relations between countries have made the safe transportation of energy, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, more important than ever. However, transporting energy safely brings with it international problems. The existence of areas that have not yet been shared in the Eastern Mediterranean brings the security and fair sharing of maritime areas to the agenda, as well as the safe transportation of energy. That’s why this study analyzes energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean through the Blue Homeland doctrine.
In order to obtain in-depth information within the scope of the study, qualitative data collection methods were used, and the findings obtained as a result of qualitative analyses were interpreted.
2. Literature Review
Energy means the ability of an object or system to do work. The work required to change the state of a physical system can be found through different calculations depending on the energy type (Yerebakan, 2010).
Energy resources are generally classified according to their use and convertibility. While energy resources are classified as renewable and non-renewable according to their use, they are classified as primary and secondary energy resources according to their convertibility (Erdem & Kadir, 2015).
Exhaustible energy resources are energy resources that are predicted to be depleted in the future and are classified in two different ways: fossil resources and nuclear resources. Renewable energy resources, on the other hand, refer to resources that can remain inexhaustible for a relatively long future and renew themselves in nature (İnan et al., 2018).
In energy policy practices, energy security is a prominent concept, especially for oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium, which are the fuels of available power plants (Tuğrul, 2020). Although there are many definitions in the literature on energy security, the most commonly used definition includes four concepts. The concept of energy security is expressed by Kruyt et al. (2009), as shown in Table 1.
Availability | or Elements Relating to Geological Existence |
Accessibility | or geopolitical elements |
Affordability | or economical elements |
Acceptability | or environmental and societal elements |
The importance of energy and energy security also brings transportation methods to the agenda. According to the 2023 report published by UNCTAD, oil and gas trade volumes among cargo types achieved the highest annual growth rates in 2022, with 6 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The main factors contributing to this growth are energy security and geopolitical effects. It is estimated that these effects will continue in 2023 and will bring further growth in both the energy trade and especially the gas trade (Figure 1). The source of this situation is the need for energy security and growing environmental impacts.
European countries have implemented the "Repower of the European Union" project with the aim of reducing the use of fossil fuels and converting to renewable energy sources by 2027. Natural gas, which is among the fossil energy resources that are on the agenda for European countries, is one of the most important energy resources for European countries. Natural gas covers 24% of the energy consumption of the European Union. It has established itself in a wide range of areas, including accommodation, service and transportation, electrical energy production, and industrial activities. In this regard, evaluating the energy reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is one of the prominent issues for European countries that plan to increase energy diversity (Dipam, 2023).
3. The Importance of the Eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is an important exit region for the transportation of Middle Eastern oil and natural gas resources to Europe. At the same time, it is an alternative exit region for the transportation of Eurasia's oil and natural gas reserves to Europe. Over time, it becomes an alternative exit region for the transportation of Eurasia's oil and natural gas reserves to Europe. In this context, the Eastern Mediterranean has undeniable strategic importance (Tuğrul, 2018).
The Eastern Mediterranean, which is a target area for the power centers due to its location and a conflict area for their retention, is the region where the first commercial activities on earth began. According to Mackinder's theory, the Land Dominion Theory, the heartland, called the core region, is in a central position that controls the maritime trade route to Eastern Europe. According to Mahan's Theory of Maritime Domination, it is located on the routes that will be used by trade between the east and west, is at the point of controlling the trade routes of the Black Sea countries, and therefore has a significant weight on world trade. According to Douchet's Air Domination Theory, it provides the opportunity for air intervention in the Balkans, the Middle East, the south of Russia, and the southeastern part of Europe, which is the central region. According to Spykman's Edge Belt Theory, being in direct contact with Greece and Turkey, which he counts as edge belt countries, and in partial contact with Iraq and Iran puts it within range of keeping most of the edge belt countries spread around the central region under control. Cyprus is the third-largest island in terms of size in the Mediterranean (Kum, 2020).
TRNC has unique geopolitics and features. In this respect, it has the potential to control energy lines and commercial routes. There are important ports and airports in TRNC, which is located in the east-west energy and trade corridor. Effective use of these can turn TRNC into a strong logistics base. In addition, TRNC is an important geography in terms of energy geopolitics, as it is a country located in the middle of the Eastern Mediterranean energy resources (Ayu, 2022).
The Mediterranean is located at the crossroads of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Bosphorus Strait, and the Suez Canal. With its crucial location, the Mediterranean Sea is a strategic transit lane in terms of international shipping, as indicated in Figure 2.
According to Eurostat statistics, cargo transported in the Mediterranean Sea is increasing by years (Figure 3). In particular, the Eastern Mediterranean constitutes the backbone of trade between east and west
According to the Oil & Gas Journal’s estimates as of January 1, 2022, the Eastern Mediterranean’s largest crude oil reserves are held by Egypt, with 3.3 billion barrels. In terms of crude oil reserves, Turkey is the second-largest country, holding 371 million barrels, as indicated in Table 2 (Eia, 2022).
Country | Million Barrels of Oil Reserves |
Egypt | 3,300 |
Greece | 10 |
lsrael | 13 |
Jordan | 1 |
Turkey | 371 |
The discovery of new energy reserves in many regions, which started with Egypt's discovery of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1969, has brought the Eastern Mediterranean to the top of the world's agenda. In subsequent studies, the density of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean was determined. According to a 2010 report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it is estimated that there are approximately 6.3 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 6 billion barrels of liquid natural gas, and 1.8 billion barrels of oil reserves in the Nile Delta Basin. It has been determined that there is an oil reserve of 8 billion barrels around the island of Cyprus. The same report shows that there is a total of 3.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in Herodotus in the southeast of Crete Island and in the region around the Island of Cyprus (Sakal, 2020). Figure 4 shows the Eastern Mediterranean gas and renewable energy infrastructure.
4. Eastern Mediterranean’s Energy Security in Terms of the Blue Homeland Doctrine
It is a known fact that one of the important developments affecting the world maritime trade routes in recent years is the COVID-19 epidemic. Trade flows and supply chains, which have started to change direction since the epidemic process, have been deepened and reshaped, especially with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. According to Figure 5 exports of oil and oil products to alternative countries further away from the Russian Federation, such as India, China, the Middle East, Turkey, Latin America, and Africa, have increased (Unctad, 2023). The Eastern Mediterranean route, which includes Turkey, is expected to increase its importance day by day in this context.
The Eastern Mediterranean and the island of Cyprus have great importance in terms of both oil, natural gas, and hydrocarbon potential, as well as energy geopolitics. The fact that the region is a strategic transit route for global crude oil, petroleum products, and LNG trade brings with it the security problem of the area in question.
On the other hand, the existence of maritime areas in the Eastern Mediterranean that have not yet been shared sometimes brings coastal countries into conflict. Because it is a known fact that the Eastern Mediterranean region, including the Island of Cyprus, is a region rich in hydrocarbon potential.
According to the information provided by the United States Geological Survey, as of 2010, there are an average of 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 3.45 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in the Levant basin, located between the states of Syria, Cyprus, Israel, and Lebanon. Apart from these resources, the existence of hydrocarbon resources is also mentioned in areas that have not yet been identified (Aa, 2022).
GASC first signed EEZ agreements with Egypt on February 17, 2003; with Lebanon on January 17, 2007; and with Israel on December 17, 2010 (Figure 6). Since the limitations in question cover Turkey's possible continental shelf and EEZ areas, Turkey has officially declared its negative views towards these agreements to the relevant countries and the United Nations (Acer, 2007).
In addition to all these developments, Greece accepts the Crete, Kashot, Çoban, Rhodes, and Meis lines as the relevant coasts. It ignores Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean and tries to leave Turkey with a very small continental shelf and EEZ area limited only to the Gulf of Antalya, based on the median lines together with the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus. Figure 7 shows all EEZs claimed by Greek Cypriot Administration in the Eastern Mediterranean. These unfair practices of Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus in this region do not comply with the rules of international law and drag future sharing problems into an even greater impasse (Ertürk, 2017).
"The Marine Jurisdiction Areas Dispute" between Turkey, TRNC, and GCA is shown in Figure 8. The Greek Cypriot Administration's declaration of an EEZ by ignoring Turkey's maritime jurisdiction areas violates Turkey's exploration and drilling rights on hydrocarbon deposits. In addition, 5 of the 13 parcels (parcels no. 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7) for which the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has granted exploration permission to Israel coincide with Turkey's maritime jurisdiction areas (Insamer, 2022).
Following all these developments, some of the actions taken by Turkey are as follows:
• In 2006, Turkish Naval Forces launched Operation Mediterranean Shield in the region.
• On September 21, 2011, a continental shelf delimitation agreement was signed with the TRNC, and hydrocarbon exploitation licenses around the island of Cyprus were granted to TPAO by the TRNC.
• On April 27, 2012, new ones were added to the license areas given to TPAO in the Turkish Continental Shelf.
• With the note given to the EU and the UN on March 12, 2013, it was stated that the area between 28o00 East longitude, starting from 32o 16’’ 18’ East longitude and following the median line between the Egypt-Turkey coasts, is the Turkish continental shelf and 28o00 East longitude. It was declared that the continental shelf located to the west of the longitude will be determined by an agreement with the participation of the relevant countries, and these borders were confirmed in the note given to the UN on March 18, 2019.
• With the note of November 13, 2019, it was declared that the western border of the Turkish continental shelf passes through the territorial waters of the relevant islands in the west of 28o00 E longitude and that the islands cannot close the Turkish continental shelf (Yaycı, 2020).
• On November 27, 2019, the "Memorandum of Understanding on Security and Military Cooperation" and the "Memorandum of Understanding on the Limitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas" were signed between Turkey and the GNA Government of National Accord in Libya. According to the map, an 18.6-mile (29.9 km) long maritime border is foreseen between Turkey and Libya in the southeast of Greece's Crete Island.
Turkey continues to exist on a piece of land with seas on three sides due to its geography. The Republic of Turkey, which is located in a geography surrounded by seas, uses the concept of "Blue Homeland" when talking about its interests and jurisdictions in its seas (Saygılı, 2023). The concept of "Blue Homeland," which was first put forward by Admiral Cem Gürdeniz in 2006, has been used in the literature with books written and maps drawn by retired Rear Admiral Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cihat Yaycı (Bbc, 2020).
Blue Homeland, which is still a very new concept, has been evaluated in Turkish maritime strategy since 2006. However, with the Blue Homeland Doctrine, Turkey has emphasized a new maritime policy. In other words, the maritime policy of the Republic of Turkey, which has undergone a significant conceptual and strategic transformation, has started to be placed in a comprehensive conceptual framework with the concept of Blue Homeland for Turkey's maritime jurisdiction areas (Saygılı, 2023). As indicated in Figure 9, Blue Homeland is a strategic sovereignty area of 462 thousand square km consisting of Turkey's maritime jurisdiction areas located between 26-45 eastern longitudes and 36-42 northern latitudes (Mavivatan, 2023).
It is understood from the press releases of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Turkey reserves its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean with the note numbered "2004/Turkuno DT4739 dated 2 March 2004" and the note numbered "456 dated 23 July 2007" and that the declaration of the exclusive economic zone will take place after the Blue Homeland borders are clarified by international agreements (Saygılı, 2023).
Blue Homeland advocates an independent foreign policy, i.e., a national security policy, in which the state's security interests at sea are prioritized. With the Blue Homeland doctrine, periodic interests, temporary alliances, and cooperation are advocated, where the interests of the state are prioritized instead of permanent alliances and blocs (Saygılı, 2023).
Turkey has taken concrete steps towards cooperation and a win-win approach in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely the Cyprus issue on its southern borders and the energy and maritime security issues of the region, but has not received enough response from the countries in the region. For this reason, it is very important for Turkey to clarify its exclusive economic zone policy by increasing its negotiations with the relevant countries. Turkey is a key country that can connect Europe, which is turning towards new energy sources due to the "Russia-Ukraine War," to the Eastern Mediterranean, which has rich resources. It is also likely that Europe's efforts to find an alternative to Russian gas will turn Turkey into a "transit center providing energy transit to Europe." Therefore, Turkey should strengthen its policies to become a key transit country for European markets (Güneş, 2022).
5. Conclusion
Energy resources, which have been of great importance in every period of history, have often been one of the important factors that bring countries face-to-face. With globalization, the increase in the volume of cargo in world trade has manifested itself most in the maritime field. In parallel with the increase in maritime trade and energy problems, the security of energy has also become an important issue of discussion.
Energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has a large share as the route of transportation of energy cargoes in the world, is important not only for Turkey but also for all countries using this maritime area. For this reason, this study analyzes the relations and energy security between the Eastern Mediterranean and the riparian countries in terms of the Blue Homeland doctrine.
The Eastern Mediterranean and the island of Cyprus have great importance in terms of both oil, natural gas, and hydrocarbon potential, as well as energy geopolitics. The fact that the region is a strategic transit route for global crude oil, petroleum products, and LNG trade brings with it the security problem of the area in question.
On the other hand, the existence of maritime areas in the Eastern Mediterranean that have not yet been shared sometimes brings coastal countries into conflict. Because it is a known fact that the Eastern Mediterranean region, including the Island of Cyprus, is a region rich in hydrocarbon potential.
When the energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean is examined from the perspective of the Blue Homeland, it is of great importance as it is the transit route for crude oil and natural gas loading and unloading terminal ports, maritime transport routes, and natural gas pipelines. In this sense, it is important for the future of the region that Turkey officially declares its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, that is, its Blue Homeland, and conveys them to the UN Secretary General.
It is a well-known fact that trade flows and supply chains, which have started to change direction since the epidemic process, have been deepened and reshaped, especially with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. The change in the direction of trade flows, especially due to military and political developments in neighboring countries, makes the Eastern Mediterranean more important than ever.
Making maximum use of the energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean will only be possible through the cooperation of the riparian countries. For this reason, it is very important for the future and security of the region that coastal countries act prudently by respecting each other's maritime spaces.
Changing dynamics and relations between countries have made the safe transportation of energy, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, more important than ever. However, transporting energy safely brings with it international problems. The existence of areas that have not yet been shared in the Eastern Mediterranean brings the security and fair sharing of maritime areas to the agenda, as well as the safe transportation of energy. That’s why this study analyzes energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean through the Blue Homeland doctrine.
In today's world, where energy becomes more important day by day, countries are focused on creating a safe transportation corridor. Safe maritime transportation, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, which hosts energy transportation intensively, is closely related to the security of maritime areas. The blue homeland doctrine must be understood very well in order to transport energy safely in the sea areas in the Eastern Mediterranean that are prone to problems and whose sharing has not yet been completed. Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the transportation burden is expected to increase further in the coming years, affect all parties involved in the problems.
As a result, the Blue Homeland concept protects the interests of not only Turkey but all countries that use the region. All countries using this area will be affected by the formation of a safe corridor for maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. Especially when examined in terms of energy transportation, the fact that this region constitutes a maritime area where dangerous goods are transported shows once again how important it is to ensure international security here.
The data used to support the research findings are available from the corresponding author upon request.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
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