Akkuyu nuclear plant construction to start in 2018: Erdogan

Construction on Turkey's first nuclear power plant will begin in 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, adding that the plant's inauguration would be held "very soon" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Construction of Akkuyu Nuclear Plant to start in Sept.

The construction of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will start in September this year, top officials of Cengiz-Kolin-Kalyon (CKK), a Turkish consortium of contracting conglomerates, said on Tuesday, a sign of a desire to bolster Russia-Turkey cooperation on several fronts.

Over Cyprus exploded meteorite

Over the island of Cyprus, flying meteorite that scared the locals bright flashes in the sky and the explosion. Presumably, the meteorite crashed into the Mediterranean sea, reported Reuters news Agency.

Meteorologists: for the first time in 47 years, June was hotter than July in Israel

Israel meteorological service summed up the past month and reported that for the first time since 1969, the first month of summer was hotter than July.

Wildfires rage amid summer heat in north Mediterranean: Greece, Spain, Turkey

Wildfires are raging amid summer heat across several areas north of the Mediterranean on Tuesday, authorities said.

Close to 3,000 migrant deaths recorded

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday that some 2,954 migrants and refugees have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year.

The value of the EEZ ( and the ideology of the void)

The value of the EEZ became a perceivable fact only in Cyprus. Whereas in Greece, there are still politicians, and an entire government at that, who are unaware of how to go about even copying the Cypriot model.

Supergiant’ gas field discovered off Egypt

The Italian energy company Eni SpA announced Sunday it has discovered a “supergiant” natural gas field off Egypt, describing it as the “largest-ever” found in the Mediterranean Sea.

Oil pipeline bursts near Israel-Jordan border.(the reason for the spill was under investigation)

An oil pipeline rupture has caused thousands of cubic metres of crude oil to spill into the Arava desert in southern Israel near the border with Jordan, officials said Thursday (Dec 4). The incident took place just north of the Red Sea resort city of Eilat and 500m from the frontier. 

The spill was "a couple of kilometres long", according to an Israeli environment ministry spokeswoman who was unable to give more specific information.

Turkey nuke plant to last 100 years (Rosatom CEO)

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant to be built on the country’s southern coast will connect Turkey and Russia for at least 100 years, said the plant’s Russian builder, Rosatom.

“We are giving 60 years of guarantee for the Akkuyu nuclear plant, but I’m sure that it will have a lifespan of 80-100 years,” said Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko.

Mediterranean, North Atlantic prepares for UN-backed tsunami warning system test -- (Simulations will be carried out between 28 and 30 October)

UN, 23 October 2014 – Some 20 nations with coastlines on the North Atlantic, and Mediterranean and Black Seas are set to participate in a United Nations-supervised tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to an alert and enhance regional coordination in the event of a disaster.

In a press statement released today, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – the body coordinating the warning test since its first implementation in 2005 – reported that four tsunami simulations will be carried out between 28 and 30 October in an effort to assess the overall reactivity of countries participating in the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System for the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTWS).

Ninety-six percent of Syria’s declared chemical weapons destroyed (UN-OPCW mission chief)

 UN, 4 September 2014 – The Special Coordinator for the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) told the Security Council today that 96 percent of Syria’s declared stockpile, including the most dangerous chemicals, had been destroyed and preparation were underway to destroy the remaining 12 production facilities.

“This is a chemical weapons disarmament process, it’s been unique,” said Sigrid Kaag after her final briefing to the Security Council in her capacity as the head of the joint mission dealing with Syria’s chemical weapons, which is winding up its work at the end of September.

Syria's worst chemical arms neutralized: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: A specially equipped US ship has finished neutralizing all 600 metric tonnes of the most dangerous of Syria's chemical weapons components surrendered to the international community this year to avert threatened air strikes, the Pentagon said on Monday.

It said the Cape Ray, equipped with the US-developed Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, neutralized 581.5 metric tonnes of DF, a sarin precursor chemical, and 19.8 metric tonnes of HD, an ingredient of sulfur mustard, while afloat in the Mediterranean.

Akkuyu nuclear power plant: No reasons for deteriorating relations with Russia (Turkish energy minister)

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said on Friday he did not see any reasons for deteriorating relations with Russia in the energy sector.

“As for the projects that we are currently implementing with Russia there are no reasons, which can cause problems due to the EU sanctions. Our relations are stable in gas issues and in other spheres,” Yildiz said.

Russia and Turkey are implementing a project to build the Akkuyu nuclear power plant at Mersin Province on the Mediterranean coast, he said.

Progress made on destruction of chemical weapons outside Syria (UNSC president)

There has been "good progress" on the destruction of Syria's chemical weapon materials outside the country, UK's Permanent Representative to the UN Mark Lyall Grant, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for August, told reporters here on Tuesday.

Lyall Grant made the remarks after a briefing to the 15-member Council behind closed doors via video teleconference by Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator for the United Nations - Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Mission.

All toxic chemicals removed from Syria now at destruction sites (OPCW)

All the toxic chemicals removed from Syria under a deal with the Syrian government to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile have been delivered to destruction facilities outside the country, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday.
  
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement that the 1,300 tonnes of chemicals removed from Syria were now being destroyed at various locations. The watchdog said 32 percent of the total had been destroyed by July 21.

Environment report for first nuclear plant in Akkuyu yells out: ‘Don’t build it’ (Coastal nuclear plants mostly in cold seas)

Data collected in the controversial environmental impact assessment report (ÇED) regarding Turkey’s prospective first nuclear plant in Akkuyu in Mersin has provided serious warnings that the plant could hurt the region’s ecosystem once it comes operational.

A leading expert on marine sciences who spoke to Doğan News Agency said the data was not interpreted in the light of its potential ecological damage.

Security of gas supply: the role of gas developments in the Mediterranean region

European Commission, Joint Statement, Malta, 11 July 2014.

Joint statement by Günther H. Oettinger, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for energy, and Konrad Mizzi, Minister for Energy and Health of the Government of Malta:

Today, Energy Ministers from the EU, North Africa and the East Mediterranean, high officials, industry representatives and key stakeholders in the energy sector met in Malta to exchange views on how gas-related developments in the Mediterranean region can enhance security of supply in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

US ship begins neutralizing Syrian chemical weapons

US container ship Cape Ray began neutralizing chemical materials on Monday that were once part of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's weapons arsenal, the Pentagon said.
The ship, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, began processing about 600 metric tonnes of chemical weapons and raw materials that could be used in them, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters.

Greece unhappy over Syrian chemical weapons destruction

MV Cape Ray

Greece has expressed concerns regarding the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea the country’s Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesday
Venizelos stated that Greece and its heavily populated island, Crete, have reservations and would “prefer those chemical gases to be destroyed out in the Atlantic Ocean.”