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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 11, Nº. 2 (November 2020-April 2021)

SECURITIZATION AND DESECURITIZATION OF ENERGY RESOURCES:

INSIGHTS FROM ALSACE-LORRAINE FOR CYPRUS ISLAND

RAHMAN DAG

rahman.dag@gmail.com

Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) at Exeter University, Master of Arts at the School of Orient and

African Studies, Eurocenters Academic English Course in London.

Assistant Professor at Adiyaman University, in the Department of Public Management (Turkey).

Managing Editor of The Rest Journal: Politics of Politics and Development (Journal of Global

Analysis). Director of Cesran Turkey Desk

MEHMET FERHAT FIRAT

mehmetfirat@adiyaman.edu.tr

Adiyaman Üniversitesi (Turkey). Ph.D. Candidate in International Relations, Kadir Has University.

M.A. in International Relations, Macquarie University, Sydney. B.A, Public Administration, Selcuk

University

Abstract

Energy resources since the industrial revolution have been paramount for both developing

and developed countries. Therefore, the urgent need for and control over energy resources in

order to have an advantage against rivalries have become a significant part of national

security. From the late 18

century to early 20

century, coal and gasoline were major energy

resources to make machines operational but they have been gradually replaced by the fossil

fuels, oil and gas. While transformation is happening, dependency on energy resources in the

fields ranging from housewarming to jet fuels dramatically increased. Having adequate energy

resources, in this sense, provides industrially and economically strategic advantages for a

country, so military or political struggles over energy resources have been a salient issue in

international relations. This paper seeks to examine the struggle over energy resources under

the light of Alsace-Lorraine case and to compare the results with the Cyprus case. In doing

so, securitization studies facilitate theoretical ground on how energy resources are securitized,

which leads to a country to take extreme cautions, including armed conflict and on how energy

resources are de-securitized, which leads to changes in foreign policies from conflict to

cooperation.

Keywords

Securitization, De-securitization, Energy Resources, Alsace-Lorraine, Cyprus Issue, Germany-

France, Turkey-Greece

How to cite this article

Dag, Rahman; Firat, Mehmet Ferhat (2020). "Securing and desecuritisation of energy

resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus island". In Janus.net, e-journal of

international relations. Vol. 11, No. 2 Consulted [online] at date of last visit, DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.11.2.1

Article received on November 17, 2019 and accepted for publication on September 3,

2020

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Vol. 11, Nº. 2 (November 2020-April 2021), pp. 1-18

Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

SECURITIZATION AND DESECURITIZATION OF ENERGY

RESOURCES: INSIGHTS FROM ALSACE-LORRAINE FOR CYPRUS

ISLAND

RAHMAN DAG

MEHMET FERHAT FIRAT

Introduction

Increasing energy demand and diversification of energy sources have led to natural gas

gaining importance and priority in the last decades. The recent discoveries of a significant

amount of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean have diversified the source country

options in the international gas market; three large fields have been discovered by

offshore Israel and Cyprus between 2009 and 2011. These recent developments have

raised discussions about the relationship between regional geopolitics and energy. Many

analysts have expressed hopes that the Eastern Mediterranean might become a gas

exporting region (Christou and Adamides, 2016). Moreover, this newly discovered gas

sources could pave the way for a new era of cooperation which has the potential to solve

conflicts in the region. However, history shows that disagreements over the sharing of

energy resources more prone to conflict. The disagreements on Alsace-Lorraine can be

taken as a striking example. Although there were amply reasons bringing the world at

the edge of World War II, the disagreements between Germany and France about the

sharing of energy resources in the region brought a global dimension to the conflict

(Garloch, 1946: 268). Post-war political and military conditions enforced historical

rivalries, German and France, to co-operate in terms of sharing energy resources,

especially in Alsace-Loraine. It is a fact that the energy resources in Cyprus and the

Eastern Mediterranean have the same potential both for conflict and cooperation.

Therefore, a comparison between the Cyprus Island and the Alsace-Lorraine regions can

be important examples for the analysis of the conflict and cooperation potentials of

energy resources.

An analytical framework of the paper bases on the securitization of the energy resources

in the Alsace-Lorraine during both the First and the Second World Wars and

desecuritization of energy resources after the Second World War. In case of Cyprus issue,

this paper argues that securitization of the energy resources is now getting stronger and

suggests that resemblances between the Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus issue might be

taken as lessons before securitization of the energy resources leads to conflict. In order

to do that, desecuritization process of Alsace-Lorraine case between Germany and France

after WWII should be examined.

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

Such a huge argument has to be dealt with eloquently because of current disagreements

in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are getting furious. In order to subsidies the potential

of energy resources bringing conflict (securitization) or cooperation (desecuritization) in

the EMS region, the resemblances between the Alsace-Lorraine and Cyprus have to be

presented. These two cases should be compared in order to increase the robustness of

the main argument.

Following a section of the paper explains why these two cases are comparable. The next

section provides a theoretical framework to comprehend how energy resources could

lead to conflict and then cooperation in Alsace-Lorraine. Right after that, the paper

depicts the case of Cyprus issue on which securitization process is in operation. In the

concluding section, desecuritization process of the Alsace-Lorraine region is taken as a

ground for the Cyprus issue.

What makes the Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus Issue Comparable?

The Alsace Lorraine region possessing coal mines and iron ores have had a strategic place

during both World Wars. This is because in the early 20th-century coal and iron were

important energy sources that were used in the wide range of sectors, including the war

industry. On the other hand, hydrocarbon reserves recently discovered by the offshore

of Cyprus have made the Island the center of energy conflict between the guarantor

states: Turkey and Greece. The analogy between Alsace-Lorraine and Cyprus issues

allows us to analyze the conflict and cooperation potentials of energy sources. It is going

to be a bold argument that the Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus issue are similar to

analyze and thus causes and results of both cases would be similar. Not to crash under

such a huge burden, it is better to list similarities between the two cases. In this way,

analyzing the Alsace-Lorraine case with securitization theory would make much more

sense. Similarities are going to be categorized under three subtitles: historical

background of remaining in-between two main actors, ethnic, language and cultural

arguments of the actors claiming sovereignty over the regions, and possessing rich

natural resources.

Historical Background: Changing Sovereignties between Two Main Actors over the Years

The Alsace-Lorraine region, attached to France in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia, was

subsequently annexed by Germany in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War and

returned to France after the First World War, thanks to the Treaty of Versailles. Excluding

the de facto annexation of 1940-45, it had been French territory once again (Glenn,

1974). On the other hand, Cyprus Island was conquered by the Ottomans in the 16

century and became a center of sea trade. It stared under the Ottoman rule for almost

four centuries, and Turkish residents settled there and lived together with the native

Cypriots. The British Empire took sovereignty in the 19th century. After the decay of the

Ottoman Empire, Island remained under the rule of the British Empire as a mandate.

With the annexation of Island by the British Empire, the “Cyprus Dispute” was identified

as the conflict between the people of Cyprus and Britain regarding the Cypriots’ demand

for self-determination. Several campaigns against Britain were organized by EOKA

(Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston). In 1950 as a result of the propaganda of Greece,

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

the Greek Cypriot went for a referendum in which around 97% of the population voted

for the ‘enosis’ (Union with Greece) (Yalçın, 2018). The referendum result was utilized

by Greece to get international support for unification. Greece put the referendum results

(around 97% vote for ENOSİS) to use for getting international support for unification. So

that the international propaganda started to work, Turkey decided to support Turkish

Cypriots claim of Taksim (partition of the Island between Greeks and Turks). As Greeks

in Cyprus led by the EOKA attacked the British presence, started to organize attacks on

the Turkish Cypriots. On these events, the Cyprus dispute shifted from a colonial to an

ethnic dispute between the Turkish and the Greek Islanders (Erkem, 2016).

Decolonization process changed the sovereignty of the region, and the Island became an

independent country with the agreement among the United Kingdom, Turkey and Greece

which are still acting as guarantor states (Karakasis, 2017: 8). For Turkey, the

significance of Cyprus increased during the cold war because of its geographical location

along energy routes. Moreover, the recent discovery of hydrocarbon resources off the

southern shores of Cyprus increased the strategic importance of the Island for Turkey

and other parties (Soysal, 2004). Both regions have staged in the center of political and

economic quarrels among the actors having national interests over the regions. While

Germany and France were claiming their sovereignty over Alsace-Lorraine, Turkey and

Greece are now main actors over the Cyprus question.

Both territories have historically been changing hands between two major actors.

Therefore, whenever the control of the region changed, then the defeated party

articulated linguistic, cultural and ethnic arguments in their efforts for taking it back.

Ethnic, Language and Cultural Arguments of the Actors over both Regions

The boundary between France and Germany was contested from the Middle Ages until

the end of WWII. Much of this contestation involved the Alsace-Lorraine region which is

located on the French side of the Rhine River and extends north-westward to the

boundary between France and Luxembourg. Its population divided among French and

German speakers. Alsace and Lorraine were subject to more intrusive assimilation

attempts by first the German and then the French central governments. It took until the

1950s for tensions to calm down. With the returning of the region to France, the use of

German dialects was suppressed, and people were mandated the use of French in schools

and for government business (Glenn, 1974). At this point, it is necessary to address the

distinctive approaches to the concept of the nation by Germany and France. It is because

of that the differences in perception of the concept of nation reveal the way of how both

actors affiliate their relations to the region and people living over there. As an initial

example of nationalism in Europe, France took the path for a state-centred and territorial

nationalism that includes assimilation of people living in the land under the French

authority or claimed to be under French authority. In contrast, Germany mostly focuses

on ethnocultural understanding in which linguistic and ethnic origin are key determinants

(Brubaker, 2010). As a result, France tried to re-formulize the mind of people living in

Alsace Lorraine for that they are French and Germans emphasized Deutsche speaking

people lignin in the region.

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

For Cyprus, as a divided Island into two parts since 1974 similarly to Alsace-Lorraine it

has long been viewed largely through the prism of the two ethnic communities, Greek

and Turkish. With the decolonization process, the creation of the Republic of Cyprus and

the acquisition of independence from Britain did not establish the peace and stability, but

instead, the conflict escalated, and acts of violence in the 1960s put an end to the newly

formed bi-communal state. The main issues of the dispute were; the organization of the

army, proportional public procurement, tax law, and separate municipalities (Erkem,

2016). The emergence of both Greek and then Turkish nation-state and also the process

of modernization had a great impact on traditionally co-existent Muslim and Christian

societies. It is now a political reality that the era of modernity and nationalism in Cyprus

has transformed pre-modern traditional communities into two separate political

communities (Kızılyürek, 2002:223). The authority of the Republic of Cyprus extends

over the Greek part in the south, whereas the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus rules

over the Turkish part in the north, which is consisted of 36.2 per cent of the Island. As

guarantor states, Greece and Turkey, their ethnic, linguistic, cultural and sometimes

religious ties have been instrumentalized to claim their historical bounds, which serves

their interests.

Rich Natural Resources Capacity of the Regions

The Alsace-Lorraine region was an interception point between France and Germany and

is consequently of major strategic importance; it was also important because of its

valuable resources. The region had important forests and valuable minerals. The salt

deposits had been mined since the ancient times and between two wars, it was the basis

for the important chemical industry. The Alsace-Lorraine region contained 46 per cent of

the valuable iron ore reserves of Europe. Coal and Steel had provided both military

capacity for occupation, as well as a cause for German and French territorial acquisition.

The Alsace-Lorraine and its coal and iron ore deposit changed hands between France and

Germany in 1871, 1918, 1940 and 1945. The iron deposits of Alsace-Lorraine were the

second-largest discovered deposits in the world in 1918. During the First World War,

Germany had 2,800 million tons of iron ore. Lorraine alone accounted for 2,000 million

of these tons. After the dephosphorization process was discovered before the First World

War, the value of these ore deposits became abundantly clear for both Germany and

France. For the Rhine Basin, where Alsace, Lorraine and the German Saarland lay, there

were iron and coal deposits that were critical strategic resources for the industry in the

industrial era (as they were the basic requirements of steel production). Even today,

Alsace and Lorraine are among the wealthiest regions of France, not a small part because

of the steel and automotive industries involved in this area

Around the mines have grown-up important industrial centres specializing in the

production of iron and crude steel. Another mineral wealth of the region consists of potash

mines and coal mines. Especially the potash mines were the second largest deposits of

https://www.cvce.eu/en/recherche/unit-content/-/unit/5cc6b004-33b7-4e44-b6db-

f5f9e6c01023/ee53b53d-cdfa-4b9f-a760-6339c851af9d/Resources#d27b6708-a15d-448a-891b-

1158bafe023a_en&overlay.

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

this mineral in the World (Garloch, 1946). The exploitation of petroleum on a commercial

scale began in Alsace, which led to large-scale modern industries in the region.

The recent discovery of natural gas off the southern shores of Cyprus has added a new

dimension to the debates on the “value” of the country. According to preliminary findings,

the amount of natural gas found in the Glaucus-1 well (Cyprus’ 10th block) is estimated

to be between 5 trillion and 8 trillion cubic meters, meaning it could meet the Island's

energy needs for up to 200 years. The discovery is the largest amount ever found in the

Exclusive Economic Zone claimed by Cyprus. The discoveries have attracted the interest

of European countries and Turkey, as well as energy companies, who are looking for

supply alternatives outside of Russia (Özekin, 2020). Therefore, the geopolitical and

economic importance of Cyprus radically changes and this inevitably impacts on the

conflict as well as the terms of its resolution; it may deepen the divide, or it might become

a factor pushing toward cooperation. It can be claimed that the strategic significance of

Cyprus is redefined in different historical periods.

To sum up, the initial point of the paper begins with the historical experience both regions

have gone through. They have been under the sovereignty of different actors overtimes,

and by swapping between them, these regions have been under different political, social,

and cultural dominance. This interchange of sovereignties turned out to be paramount

due to the natural resources they had/have. For instance, at the beginning of the 20th

century due to the strategically important coal mines that Alsace-Lorraine contained, the

region had been a problem zone that triggered conflicts between the two neighbouring

countries: France and Germany. On the other hand, by the early years of the 21st

century, Cyprus has the potential to be Alsace-Lorraine of Turkey and Greece in the

Eastern Mediterranean region because of the recent discovery of hydrocarbon reserves.

These two critical similarities self-reflect another point which is that these regions are

directly or indirectly claimed by the two main actors struggling to share the natural

resources they had/have. The resemblance of being compressed between the two main

actors also leads to another one. The main actors (France and Germany over Alsace

Lorraine and Greece and Turkey over Cyprus) substantiate their claims over ethnic,

linguistic, and cultural arguments which they had/have established over the centuries.

In general, the Alsace-Lorraine region and the Cyprus Island reflect quite similarities,

which can be claimed that they can be compared in terms of energy capacities. The

Alsace-Lorraine region changed the course of events then and the Cyprus issue might

change now. To see that, the importance of Alsace-Lorraine during the two world wars

as conflicting issues over energy resources and also during the formation of European

Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) as compromising issue over energy should be taken

under close examinations in the light of securitization and desecuritization theories.

Theoretical Framework: Securitization and Desecuritization of the

Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus Issues

The concept of security has been redefined by B. Buzan, as one of the founding members

of the Copenhagen School of security studies in the 1990s. According to the school of

thought, “security” is not considered to be a direct consequence of the threat but is rather

defined as the result of the political interpretation of the threat, a process called

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

securitization. The authors of this school point out the need to construct a

conceptualization of security that means something much more specific than just any

threat or problem. Therefore, security is defined as a non-linear reaction to the threat.

After the seminal work of Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde (1998), titled as

‘Security: A New Framework for Analysis’, securitization theory itself and its fundamental

concepts have enormously been studied to criticize and so develop new dimensions. Most

of the studies basically emphasize underdevelopedness of the securitization theory and

thus in order to make the securitization theory more explanatory of current international

issues, so they suggest developing basic concepts of the securitization theory (Stritzel,

2007; Wæver, 2011 and 2015, Vuori, 2008; Balzacq, Léonardo, and Ruzicka, 2015).

Despite massive salient efforts to meet the deficit of the theory, this paper does not

intend to delve into the weakness or strength of it. It is thought that the basic assumption

of how an issue is securitized would provide a suitable ground to understand the cases

of the Alsace-Lorraine region and the Cyprus issue.

The core argument of the securitization theory is that “it is by labelling something a

security issue that it becomes one” (Wæver, 2004: 13). In this way, every possible issue

or subject can be turned into a security issue and there will be no limitation. To avoid

such endless securitization, the theory suggests three steps which are defining threats,

emergently required actions, and effects on inter-unit relations (Taureck, 2006: 55).

Regarding the first step, an issue has to be explained by the security keywords. The

utterances, including these security key words, prioritize a given issue and aim to present

vital importance of it. This first step is actually called a speech act performed by

politicians or those who are influential in the decision-making process (Shipoli, 2018:

72). The function of the speech act is to raise awareness of a critical issue which has to

be dealt with immediately and extra-ordinary means.

To Buzan and Wæver (2003), for securitization, a speech act is essential, “through which

an intersubjective understanding is constructed within a political community to treat

something as an existential threat to a valued referent object and to enable a call for

urgent and exceptional measures to deal with the threat” (491). This definition of

securitization theory opens the door for more debates on whether the security is objective

(real threats) or (inter)-subjective (constructed) (Balzacq, 2019; Baele and Thomson,

2017; Stritzel, 2007), democratic and non-democratic regimes (Vuori, 2008; Wæver,

2011), and the concept of security itself (Šulović, 2010; Aradau, 2018; Baele and

Thomson, 2017).

As this paper does not have an intention to test the theory’s weakness and strength but

focus on the case study of compering securitization of energy resources between the

Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus issues, fundamental assumptions of the theory will be

applied both cases examined in the paper. In the securitization process, starting with the

speech act, there has to be a securitizer and the audience whose approval is required.

Once the equilibrium is reached among them, then extraordinary moves and policies can

be applied for dealing with a securitized issue. Approval by the audience is also another

debatable issue in the securitization theory literature as authority to act and to follow a

certain policy is still at the hands of politicians or military officers who can try eliminated

what is considered to be an existential security threat to the state or society (Mcdonald,

2008: 564; Roe, 2008: 632). This critic of securitization theory actually fits political

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

conditions during the two world wars, while France was not a fully-fledged democracy

and Germany was ruled with a constitutional monarchy and then fascist regime led by

Adolf Hitler. Therefore, the consent of the audience does not seem imperative for a

successful securitization process.

Besides, the basic concepts of securitization (speech act, securitizer and audience), the

context (Mcdonald, 2008: 564) or framework (Shipoli, 2018: 76) in which a securitizing

speech act is delivered is also quite significant for securitization process. Both Mcdonald

and Shipoli have emphasized, in separate works, the significance of the conditions in and

momentum from which securitization process makes much more sense without

mentioning referent object together with the security word. In both cases which the paper

focuses on, there has been historical, social and cultural symbolism strengthening the

securitization process. Thus, context or framework can be facilitator factors to reach a

consensus between a securitizer and an audience. Agreeing with their critics, it is better

to depict the context in which both cases was\has been securitized. In this way, a speech

act employed by a securitizer would make more sense of the process of securitization.

Securitization Contexts of the Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyprus Issue

The need to maintain coal supplies (a primary energy source) had figured in both world

wars. As well as energy supply, coal became a very political issue. Until the mid-1950s

coal was still the world's foremost fuel, but after this time oil and gas quickly took over.

It has been argued that energy is the key “to the advance of civilization,” that the

evolution of human capability is dependent on the conversion of energy for human use.

Therefore, energy plays a fundamental role in shaping state relations.

A country’s ability to access energy supplies and how it uses that energy determines the

state of its economy, society and national security. A country’s production mechanism,

international affairs and lifestyle are all determined by fossil fuels. The energy that is so

important for countries inevitably causes problems. In international law, many borders

were delimited through treaties; however, upon the discovery of new energy sources

closer to the border, that border becomes disputed. On the other hand, states have the

right to extract resources within their territories. However, when a resource basin

stretches across multiple countries’ borders, it becomes difficult for a single country to

assert its sovereignty over the field (Yergin, 2006).

Taking the theory as a ground point, the need to find, secure and diversified energy

supplies have been construed as a leading security concern for actors or entities who see

energy security as their national interests. By having a succinct critical framework for

analysis, we are better able to understand the actions, reactions, and needs of states

who consider their energy security to be threatened. By using cases of Alsace Lorraine

and Cyprus, it has been found that certain regions where natural resources buried

underneath have been a significant part of national interests. To secure national

interests, regardless of constructed by audiences or securitizers, international actors

determine a policy to deal with any issues. The importance of any possible issue within

the national security framework reveals the level of securitization of the issue. The

natural resources have been vital for survival and the development of a country. That is

why coal and iron ore in Alsace Lorraine were subjected to the great struggle between

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

France and German. Relying on similarities between Alsace Lorraine region and Cyprus

Island, this paper would argue that the Cyprus issue has a significant potential for being

subjected to a great struggle through securitization. As the German and French

securitized the issue of being in control over the natural resources, Greece and Turkey

would seem to consider Cyprus issue as a security matter via securitizing energy

recourses in the offshores of the Island. Under these circumstances, securitization of

energy resources opens up a new window for grasping the relations between Greece and

Turkey towards energy resources in Cyprus Island.

Securitizers’ Securitization of the Alsace-Lorraine and the Cyrus Issue

through the Speech Act

The Alsace-Lorraine Case

Securitizing actors, to the Copenhagen School, are not limited to politicians but include

intellectuals and officers and international actors (Stritzel, 2007). This section of the

paper, there should have had archival research for obtaining both French and German

documents and statements. Though the paper length is limited, secondary resources

describing securitizing actors’ understanding and statements seem adequate. To start

with,

“As early as the autumn of 1914, members of the French government were

defining war aims as the destruction of German industrial power through the

occupation and even annexation of the Rhineland's coal regions. The Saar

would be suitable for annexation, while the lower Rhine region of the Ruhr

would be put under international protection administered by France, with

troops present if need be. France could at one stroke destroy Germany

economic and military hegemony while reestablishing itself as the greatest

continental power. One French minister even suggested the removal of "the

population of the Palatinate, who hate France, so as to create a vast area of

expansion for the Latin race" (Henze, 2005).

A prominent historian, Georges-Henri Soutou, who undertook various official positions in

the French government suggested that in the First World War, France’s major aim to

destroy the industrial capacity of German to win the war and also stressed the

significance of the Alsace- Lorraine’s coal and iron ore resources for heavy industries. In

this way, Germans’ both economic and military capacities would be eliminated. This

statement and the aim of the paper do not imply that the WWI was erupted because of

struggle over energy resources but having, keeping, and controlling energy resources

were\have been quite a survival in an anarchic world order to protect national interests.

In the German side, Baron von Kiihlmann, the German Foreign Secretary, said in the

Reichstag, October 9, 1917:

https://mandalaprojects.com/ice/ice-cases/saar.htm.

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"After a very thorough investigation of the whole situation, according to

information derived from the most diverse sources, I am convinced that the

great question around which the struggle of the nations centres, and for which

they are shedding their blood, is not, in the first instance, the Belgian

question. The question for which Europe is being turned more and more into

a heap of ruins is the question of the future of Alsace-Lorraine" (Hazen, 1919:

154).

At the beginning of the First World War, the securitization level of the Alsace-Lorraine

containing both coal and iron ores, which were paramount for the economy, military and

industry, was also regarded as vital because of that Baron von Kiihlmann, the German

Foreign Secretary, matched political and military struggles among European powers with

the question of the Alsace-Lorraine. The keywords in his statement of ‘more diverse

sources’ and ‘the struggle of the nations’ indicate the securitization level of energy

resources in the region and thus the Germans were ready to dispose everything they had

in order to get control of the region or prevent any other European states from controlling

the region. Karl Marx also articulates another securitizing speech act by saying that “If

Alsace and Lorraine are taken, then France will later make war on Germany in conjunction

with Russia. It is unnecessary to go into the unholy consequences” (Marx, 2019:862).

His expectation of France to go war against Germany in lining with another European

power (Russia) indicates that securitization of energy resources was not constrained with

the two rival states (France and Germany) but also include other European states.

Seeking control over energy resources between the two world wars was securitized by

almost all states that were involved in the wars. By speech acts, each one of them

stressed the importance of Alsace-Loraine, if not the only reason but one of the significant

factors which were critical to determining the results of the wars. At this level of

securitization, as the theory suggests, all democratic norms could be left behind and

taken extraordinary measure to achieve the control of the referent object, in this case,

energy resources. Securitizing moves to get what the states wanted during the wars can

be listed in too many pages, but wars itself show securitization level.

The Cyprus Case

As explained above, the energy dimension of the Cyprus question has been on the agenda

of the parties since the early 2000s. Since the Island gained independence from the

United Kingdom and emerged as a separate state as the Republic of Cyprus, the

guarantor status of Greece and Turkey has given them the right to say something at the

national and international level. In light of the fact that Greece and Turkey are directly

or indirectly involved in the Cyprus question, the energy issue cannot be understood and

analysed separately from the chronic problems of the Island. Sovereignty disputes, which

Greece and Turkey have historically claimed on both Island and in the Eastern

Mediterranean, have taken on a new dimension with natural gas discoveries.

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Although the Cyprus question has many historical dimensions, the date of 2011 -in which

parties began to raise dispute aloud with the discovery of natural gas- is taken to make

a wholesome comparison with the Alsace-Lorraine region. This is because, in both,

disagreements over energy sources have been centred on the conflict. As French and

German acted in Alsace-Lorraine, today Turkish and Greek have made the energy a

subject of sovereignty, in other words, a referent object in accordance with the

securitization theory. In turn, this brings difficulties in solving the question and raising

tension is proceeding. Due to the recent discovery of natural gas offshores of the Cyprus

Island, the geopolitical and economic importance of Cyprus is radically changing and this

inevitably impacts on the conflict potential as much as on the terms of its resolution. In

other words, the recent discovery of natural gas can deepen the conflict or can enforce

the parties toward cooperation.

Such massive discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean raised the appetite of the Greek

Cypriots to search for energy resource in its economic zone. Thus, it decided to join these

exploration activities. In this first period, although they have been negotiating with many

US-based energy companies, they did not achieve starting exploration activities as a

result of Turkey’s pressure until the second half of the first decade of the 21

century.

Greek Cyprus later was able to sign an agreement with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel,

regarding the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Turkey claims that Cyprus has obtained

unfair interests by ignoring the basic rules of maritime law through bilateral agreements.

Cyprus first signed an agreement for delimitation of EEZ with Egypt on 17 February 2003

and reported the coordinates of the agreed region to the UN. Turkey declared that the

agreement signed between Cyprus and Egypt was not made with the participation of all

countries bordering the Eastern Mediterranean, that it would not be appropriate for Egypt

to enter into an EEZ agreement with Cyprus without a limitation agreement with Turkey

on the basis of the middle line, and that did not accept the disregard of the TRNC (Yaycı,

2012). Despite Turkey's objections to these agreements, Cyprus immediately declared

13 oil exploration license sites in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2007 to explore for

hydrocarbon resources. However, 8 of these 13 announced sites coincide with the TRNC

and 5 with the Turkish continental shelf.

In this way, they have delineated the parcels in the Eastern Mediterranean so that they

would be in control of the entire energy resources in the offshore of the Island.

Unilaterally signing contracts with international drilling and oil companies by the Republic

of Cyprus is reacted by Turkey with signing a “Continental Shelf limitation agreement”

with TRNC on September 21, 2011, and granting exploration licenses to TPAO (Turkish

Petroleum Corporation) in its own economic region in the Eastern Mediterranean and the

north and east of Northern Cyprus (Karakasis, 2017: 11). By agreement in the case that

the hydrocarbon reserve is found in the region it will be shared between Turkey and the

TRNC.

The commencement of the securitization point starts here since the Economic Exclusive

Zone is an extension of national sovereignty. Violation of state sovereignty, regardless

of the mainland or the sea is seen as modus operandi leading to conflict. The Greek side

of the Island has been acting on behalf of the entire Island while signing agreements with

the international companies and the other states and thus excluding Turkey and Turkish

Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). In summary, Turkish Cyprus’s argument is that

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Securitization and desecuritization of energy resources: insights from Alsace-Lorraine for Cyprus Island

Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

Greek side is not the sole representative of the whole Island and Turkey argues that

some of the parcels in which drilling activities are in operation fall into Turkey’s Economic

Exclusive Zones, which is around the north-west of the Island. In this case, the referent

object is the same as the Alsace-Lorraine case, energy resources.

The most recent speech acts of both sides performed by the politicians and decision-

makers provide securitization connotations in their statements. For instance, Turkey’s

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan articulated that “as we made the terrorists in Syria pay,

we will not leave the scene to the bandits of the sea” (4 November 2018, The Guardian).

He, by constructing similarities between terrorists in Syria and the drilling companies and

the Greek Cyprus unilateral initiatives, emphasizes the importance of sharing energy

resources in the region. Turkey’s securitizing move has been military intervention into

terrorist hedges in Syria implies that Turkey is ready for military involvement in case of

any movements excluding Turkey or what is considered as survival in the region. In the

same statement, he also stressed that there would be no resolution without excluding

Turkey from the regional dynamics by saying that “Those who thought they could take

steps in the Eastern Mediterranean or the Aegean in defiance of Turkey have now begun

to understand what a big mistake they were making. It is absolutely unacceptable to

usurp the natural resources of the eastern Mediterranean while excluding Turkey and the

TRNC” (4 November 2018, The Guardian). In this regard, Turkey’s policy over the energy

resources in the offshores of the Island indicates securitization level and Turkey might

thus take any precautions to keep its interests intact. Securitizing moves of Turkey is

self-reflective for the securitization of the energy resources. Turkey has not only sent its

own two drilling ships (named Fatih and Yavuz who were the Ottoman Sultans) but also,

they have been accompanied by the warships, named with Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha who

was a great admiral in the Ottoman Empire, to prevent possible interference by the third

parties (Adamides and Christou, 2016: 90). Even once, one of the warships blocked

Saipem 12000 which belonged to Italian International Drilling Company (ENI) from the

parcels the Greek Cyprus declared.

After Turkey's intervention, the Italian company

halted its drilling activities; Greek Cyprus signed a deal with the US Company ExxonMobil

and the Qatar Petroleum. After this agreement, the United States lifted the arms embargo

it had imposed on Cyprus since 1974. Turkey argues that lifting the embargo would have

a negative impact on efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue. So much so that the historic

“Cyprus problem,” which existed because of long-standing disputes between Turkey and

Greece and Greek Cyprus, has been recharged to extend beyond the borders of the Island

to a large area of sea. In fact, the consequences of this dispute directly affected other

regional actors, such as Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Syria were also concerned

with the political benefits of global actors such as Russia, the European Union (EU) and

the United States. In just the same way as Alsace Lorraine, disagreements over Cyprus

Island have moved away from being a regional problem and become a global problem.

On the other hand, Greece’s argument on the Cyprus issue is mostly affiliated with the

legal violations of Turkey and mostly complained Turkey to the international

organizations, especially the EU and the UN and also NATO. As referent object remains

the same, securitization of energy resources by Greece and the Greek side of Cyprus did

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/04/turkey-warns-oil-companies-against-drilling-near-

cyprus

https://www.energy-reporters.com/opinion/turkeys-first-drilling-vessel-heads-to-mediterranean/

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Rahman Dag, Mehmet Ferhat Firat

not seem to be as much as Turkey at the beginning. By standing international law while

articulating their argument implies that they considered the issue within the political

realm and that did not suggest they would take military actions toward to the issue. One

of the -statement of the Greek side, articulated by Foreign Ministry of Greece, criticized

Turkey for violating sovereign rights of Cyprus by arguing that “a slew of violations”

against the sovereignty and sovereign rights of Cyprus, international law and the

European acquis and is in defiance of the calls by the EU and the international community

to respect the rights of Cyprus and defuse tensions” (4 October 2019, Ekathimerini).

However, as of late Greece and the Republic of Cyprus’s participation into several joint

military exercises with the states such as Israel

and Egypt

in the region might be

considered as securitizing move because they might imply and represent a regional

coalition against Turkey. Although later than Turkey, Greece has now begun to articulate

military options. In this context, Greece has armed 18 Islands in the Aegean Sea since

the beginning of 2020 in violation of the Lausanne and Paris Agreements. Greece and

Cyprus’s operating military exercises with France and signing air defence agreements

could be considered as a securitizing move. Likewise, France's arrangement of joint

military exercises with the Greek Cypriot Administration and the deployment of military

aircraft on the Island in violation of the 1959-60 agreements indicate that the problem

is heading towards internationalization and securitization of energy resources has

increased by Greek sides as in the case of Turkish sides.

In general, the Cyprus issue is already securitized by Turkey and Greece. Not to fall into

anachronism trap, it has to be admitted that socio-political conditions of the time periods

when Alsace-Lorraine was securitized and two major rivals ended up with two subsequent

great wars in the world history. In the equivalent of this in the Cyprus case, extraordinary

moves which are above politics were not highly likely because of that Greek side -did not

totally securitize the issue earlier. However, securitization of an issue by one side, energy

resources, in this case, might accelerate the process of securitization of the referent

object by the rival side. In practical terms, Turkey seems convinced to take military action

to protect its sovereignty claims, with the last developments Greece and Greek Cyprus

have begun to go down the same path. In order to avoid possible future conflicts over

the energy resources, desecuritization process is urgently needed. After dramatically

destructive wars, France and Germany agreed to share energy resources in their common

benefits rather than fighting for full control over it. In other words, securitization and

desecuritization of the Alsace-Lorraine case for the energy resources present both conflict

and cooperation potentials, respectively.

Desecuritization of the Alsace-Lorraine and Its Implications for the

Cyprus Case

Ole Wæver (1993: 53-54) brought securitization and securitization process under the

light through providing four case studies and suggested that for desecuritization, security

issues should be “normalized” by politicians and intellectuals via the speech act. As in

http://www.ekathimerini.com/245180/article/ekathimerini/news/greece-turkeys-drilling-plan-in-cyprus-

eez-contrary-to-any-notion-of-legality

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-Air-Force-in-Greece-as-part-of-Iniohos-2019-585993

https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/38302

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the securitization process, the speech act is not just words but connotates vital

importance of referent objects, in desecuritization process, the speech act can be

instrumentalized to reduce tensions on a specific issue. In this way, the securitization

issue is leveled down to the political realm. This means that solving a given issue does

not require extraordinary precautions and can be sorted out within democratic

mechanisms. In other words, “Desecuritization political relations not only allow for

collaboration but also increase the likelihood that energy-related developments will

enhance their desecuritized status… They [the hydrocarbon and oil] are also used as

political tools to enhance political foreign policy influence and empower the political

position of state vis-à-vis adversaries, either by forming dependency relations or through

alliance formation” (Adamides and Christou, 2016: 87).

In the case of Alsace-Lorraine, there are three striking points which have to be paid

attention. That is the fact, the first one, that securitization brought Europe in massive

devastation and then de-securitization was followed. It is because the major rival powers,

France and Germany, disposed of all their power in the war. Therefore, it was imperative

to agree for cooperation in terms of sharing energy resources. Secondly, there was

external power enforcing cooperation in exchange for foreign aids, political and economic

supports, the US. Thirdly, intellectuals and politicians are encouraging cooperation rather

than revanchists policies between the two rivals.

In association with the first point, almost all European powers destroyed their rivals’

infrastructure, which had to be rebuilt. To do that, they were all in need of energy

resources to process raw materials such as iron and steel. In this regard, reasonable

share from the natural resources was essential for all parties to revitalize their own

infrastructures and industries. The second point is about external factors. The US needed

a revitalized Europe as a market for American exports, and European continental security

was also paramount for the post-war international system against the Soviet Union. It

was also quite important for France and German to receive foreign aids under the

Marshall Plan, initiated in 1948 by the United States (Petzina, Stolper and Hudson, 1981).

Regarding to third point, attempts of intellectuals and politicians to convince both rivals

that their national interest laid down in sharing the mines and energy resources. For

instance, the French government overcame opposition from revanchists and proposed

what is known as the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950. The Declaration was proposed

by French foreign minister Robert Schuman, based on a plan developed by the French

reconstruction planning minister Jean Monnet. Robert Schuman himself was from the

disputed territory of Alsace-Lorraine. He fought in the German army in 1914-18, had

German as his ﬁrst language and became a French citizen in 1919. His plan offered a

specific answer to the struggle for control of coal and iron: the formation of a

supranational commission to regulate trade in the two vital war-making resources.

Besides, steel was the major element in states’ post-war economic reconstruction

(needed for railways, buildings, ships, vehicles, machinery, etc.). These three points

assisted in coming to an end to a struggle between Germany and France over Alsace-

Lorraine and tuned out to be guarantors for stability and prosperity in Europe.

In the light of all these postwar developments, Robert Schuman’s plan for the

comprehensive organization of the “totality of Franco-German coal and steel productions

under a common High Authority” led to establishing the ECSC. It was formally established

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in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the

Netherlands, and West Germany (Spierenburg and Poidevin, 1993). Via this ECSC,

development and trade of coal and iron/steel would be determined by the market rather

than the national interests (Gillingham, 1991). This would increase efficiency in an

industry which was vital to Europe's reconstruction while defusing the tensions created

by competition for control of the resources. The precedent of the ECSC can be considered

as an example of how practical cooperation in the field of energy can address mutual

needs, as well as building confidence and trade between neighbouring states (even

adversaries) (Hassan and Duncan, 1994).

The ECSC was the outcome of the practical consideration of how to achieve security

through economic cooperation. The transformation in Franco-German relations from

conflict over natural resources to cooperative trade of coal and steel reflects a parallel

transformation in the way natural resources were viewed. Sharing of natural resources

as a cause of the war was replaced by the security of interdependent trade of these

resources. While one of the primary causes of both world wars was a conflict between

France and Germany over the Alsace-Lorraine, the solution lays in resolving the issue of

controlling natural resources. The ECSC was thus the first step into a new world.

The experience of the French and German particularly in Alsace-Lorraine case cannot

provide outright answers or an exact blueprint for the resolution or prevention of future

conflicts, but it does provide insights what securitization of energy resources caused and

how desecuritization of it could be achieved, of course, without launching a war.

Final Remarks and Conclusion

The fundamental aims of the paper are to restrain from the first point which is considered

to be the reason of desecuritization process of energy resource in Alsace-Lorraine and to

make salient the other two points for desecuritization of the energy resources in the

Cyprus issue. As the case of Alsace-Lorraine, disputes over energy resources between

two rivals gathered third parties involved in the war in accordance with their national

interests. In this way, alliances were established and so turned out to be global level

wars. The Cyprus case resembles the Alsace-Lorraine case because both actors, Greece

and Turkey are in the process of making allies for how to use and deliver energy resources

in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this way, possible conflict between the two main

actors might extend and cause at least a regional level conflict, if not global level.

The second point of the Alsace-Lorraine case, enforcement of external power to comprise,

seems crucial for desecuritization process. Power relations among the external power,

encouraging an agreement between the two rivals is quite detrimental. In this way, an

idea of transnational cooperation emerged, and this gave rise to the ECSC. Such an

attempt was actually tried by the Turkish side, but the proposal was rejected by the

Greek side.

However, the proposal cannot be counted as made by external force because

those who proposed it was actually part of the issue. The EU should be the first one

coming to mind, but Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, which represents the whole

Island are a full member of the organization and Turkey is still in adjustment process as

https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/07/16/party-leaders-reject-akinci-proposal-in-joint-statement/

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a candidate. The EU’s possible role as external power forcing two sides to make an

agreement for sharing energy resources might be possible in case of that Turkey is

granted with full membership. Otherwise, securitization of energy resources around the

Island transcends the borders and might turn into the EU versus Turkey rivalry. Based

on the recent developments, there is another option regarding the involvement of third

parties into possible conflict as an external mediator, NATO. Both Greece and Turkey are

the equal partner of this international organization might lead to a path for compromise,

and it seems better working than the EU in which Greece and Turkey have a different

status.

For the last point, having politicians and intellectuals, easing security level of energy

issue in Cyprus among the both sides, is another absence for the de-securitization

process. Especially in Turkish side, the sovereignty rights are taken as red-lines and do

not open for discussion as it is mostly affiliated with national territorial integrity. The

Greek side, including Greece and Greek Cyprus, developed a regional alliance with Egypt

and Israel

and now obtained military privileges from the United States and France. If it

is argued that the politicians and intellectuals could get an opportunity to raise their

voices is only possible after a destructive war, this third point might have been invalid.

However, in order to prevent such a destructive war, politicians and intellectuals

normalizing the issue and taking the issue back into the political realm (Zikos, Sorman,

and Lau, 2015: 311) should take the ground and be influential in the decision-making

process. That would be exact lessons should be taken from the Alsace-Lorraine case for

the Cyprus issue.

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