Second Day Summary: A Resolution towards solving the Eastern Mediterranean matter

Today (04/07) was the second and last day of negotiations to address the political and strategic crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean. After extensive discussions on maritime borders, refugee security and natural resources, meeting members were finally able to agree on a resolution.

The start of the conference was marked by breaking news about the situation in Egypt. Since Al-Sissi’s deposition (revealed the day before), a spike in violence against non-Muslims and the new government's lack of accountability has caused thousands to flee the country, triggering a new refugee crisis in the region.

Seeing that most refugees coming from this area seek asylum in the countries of Greece and Turkey, the members joined together to find the best solution to resolve this issue. Ireland was one of the first to speak out, offering to send peacekeeping trained troops to help the Turkish and Greek borders maintain control during the crisis. However, Turkey refused aid and continued to decline, during the meeting, interference from outside military forces.

Negotiations on the issue of refugee security were discussed for quite some time and were filled with conflicting regardings from the particpants. Fortunately, Turkey finally accepted the financial assistance offered by the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Ireland, of one hundred million euros (fifty each) over a period of three years, "with the intention that the money will be used in official initiatives for approach refugees entering the country”. Also, Greece issued an official statement announcing its intent in “retreating military troops in the region, under the condition that the Republic of Turkey recognizes the lawful existence of islands continental shelves and, consequently, the Greek rights of exploration in the Aegean Sea, ending their exploratory activities in the Hellenic Republic territorial sea”.

In a second moment, the nations started to approach the project to build a gas pipeline that would link all the states of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum 2019. This was a controversial issue for Turkey and Lebanon, as both countries were excluded from the project, and for the late participant, Russia, as the country currently holds the status of the EU's largest energy supplier. As a way of mediating the issue, Greece and Turkey began to negotiate the possibility of establishing a free market for the Eastern Mediterranean. Although later in the conversation, as countries sought a more beneficial measure on the matter, many unilaterally decided to establish economic sanctions with the aim of forcing the Turkish delegate to change his position, particularly regarding the demilitarization of Cyprus. The afternoon was marked by countless arguments and threats between nations, with Turkey finally deciding to agree with the terms exposed by the Gas Forum's members - he promised to withdrawal their gas harvesting ships of the coast of Cyprus in exchange for financial aid. The agreements of the final resolution also included the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the northern region of the Republic of Cyprus.

The statement, at last, recommended the expansion of the United Nations Refugee Agency’s work in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the the creation of a cooperation program to direct financial help at the countries serving as a route for asylum seekers, such as the Republic of Turkey and the Hellenic Republic.