The preservation of Turkey’s energy rights is key to maritime stability in the eastern Mediterranean By Elif Selin Calik In collaboration with major industrial countries like the US and France, several Mediterranean countries have discovered oil and gas resources under the sea bed. The aim of these countries is twofold: to achieve energy self-sufficiency, and to sell any surplus on the open market. According to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal states such as Egypt, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (Gaza Strip), Lebanon, Syria, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot Authority have rights to the resources in the area according to their respective Exclusive Economic Zones. In January, Greek Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt held a meeting in Cairo to announce the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum to cooperate in the production, consumption and marketing of regio