土耳其能源部长阿尔帕尔斯兰·巴伊拉克塔尔表示，一项连接土耳其与分裂的土耳其裔塞浦路斯社区的计划天然气管道最终可为整个种族分裂的岛屿提供电力。
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said a planned natural gas pipeline linking Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community could eventually provide power to the entire ethnically split island.
土耳其今年宣布了一项项目，计划修建一条主要为海底的101公里（63英里）天然气管道，通往分裂的土耳其塞浦路斯共和国（TRNC），旨在向那里的社区供应天然气。土耳其称，该管道的建设方式也将使其有可能与欧洲连接。
Turkey announced a project this year to build a mostly subsea 101-km (63-mile) natural gas pipeline to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), aiming to supply gas to the community there. It says the pipeline would be built in such a way as to also potentially connect with Europe.
能源合作和东地中海海洋管辖权多年来一直是土耳其、希腊和塞浦路斯之间的棘手问题。安卡拉和雅典多次就该地区的碳氢化合物勘探互相攻击。土耳其也不承认岛屿南部的希腊裔塞浦路斯政府，是唯一承认土耳其塞浦路斯共和国的国家。
Energy cooperation and maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean have been thorny issues between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus for years. Ankara and Athens have repeatedly traded barbs over hydrocarbon exploration in the region. Turkey also does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government to the south of the island and is the only country to recognise the TRNC.
巴伊拉克塔尔周四在伊斯坦布尔对国际媒体代表表示，计划是土耳其向岛上输送天然气，在那里通过燃气发电厂发电，如果双方能在土耳其裔塞浦路斯方面生产出自己的电力后达成协议，土耳其塞浦路斯共和国未来有可能将部分电力出售给希腊裔塞浦路斯政府。
Speaking to representatives from international media in Istanbul on Thursday, Bayraktar said the plan was for Turkey to send gas to the island to generate electricity from a gas-fired power plant there and for the TRNC to potentially later sell some of that power to the Greek Cypriot government if the two sides can agree on a after the Turkish Cypriot side can produce its own power.
“如果我们在东地中海发现一些天然气，或者其他人在那里发现一些，他们可以利用这条管道进行反向输送，将天然气带到岛上，再从岛上输送到土耳其和欧洲市场，”他说。巴伊拉克塔尔补充说，安卡拉也愿意在能源问题上与希腊合作。
"If we find some gas or someone else can find some in the eastern Mediterranean, they can use this pipeline with the reverse flow and they can bring the gas to the island and from the island to Turkey and to the European market," he said. Bayraktar added that Ankara was also open to cooperating with Greece on energy.
1974年，在一场短暂的希腊唆使的政变后，土耳其入侵导致塞浦路斯分裂。尽管联合国多次努力寻找解决这一危机的办法，但该岛至今仍处于分裂状态，这已使安卡拉与欧盟的关系紧张。土耳其支持两国方案，但希腊、塞浦路斯和欧盟予以拒绝。
A Turkish invasion split Cyprus in 1974 after a brief Greece-inspired coup. It still remains divided despite repeated efforts by the United Nations to find a solution to a crisis that has strained Ankara's ties with the European Union. Turkey backs a two-state solution, which Greece, Cyprus and the EU reject.