The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, visited Cyprus on May 27-28, 2024, and met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to discuss energy and high-tech investments in Cyprus. According to Cyprus’s Minister of Transport Alexis Vafeades, Qatar hopes to take control over the Port of Larnaca, the island nation’s second largest after Limassol.
On December 4, 2020, Cyprus awarded Kition Ocean Holdings a 40-year concession to redevelop and operate Larnaca’s port and marina. In April 2024, however, Kition Ocean Holdings breached a $1.3 billion contract signed four years earlier, leading the Cypriot government to terminate the agreement on May 27, 2024.
Qatar’s interest in Cyprus and its desire to dominate the country’s ports reflect the Persian Gulf emirate’s desire to increase its footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and North Africa. This aligns both with Qatar’s hopes to play a role in Gaza reconstruction and perhaps a potential shift away from financing terrorism against Israel.
Qatar’s foreign policy supports Islamist groups, including Hamas, the Taliban, and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. In both Egypt and Libya, such support extends to the backing of armed groups. Between 2018 and 2020, Turkey and Qatar used cargo ships to violate the U.N. Security Council arms embargo on Libya. These ships departed Turkish ports and delivered ammunition and weaponry to Islamist groups in western Libya.
After the European Union launched Operation Irini in 2021 to counter the seaborne weapons trade, Qatar and Turkey turned to transport aircraft, using several Qatari C-17A heavy transport aircraft to shuttle weapons from Istanbul, Turkey, to Misrata and Tripoli in Libya, though these flight have now ceased.
While Qatar’s next move might be to gain control over operations in the Port of Larnaca, it is likely that it would then seek to extend its control to the city’s airport, the country’s main international gateway. Qatari officials might pitch their investment to their Cypriot counterparts in terms of trade and modernization, but it will be impossible to separate Qatari ideology from its actions.
Qatari control over the Port of Larnaca will surely raise alarm bells, not only in Europe but also in the United States.
