Harry Tzimitras

Research Interests

​Public International law; Law of the Sea; Foreign Policy Analysis; International Organizations; Energy Geopolitics; Eastern Mediterranean; Cyprus; Greece; Turkey.

Background

​​​Professor of International Law and International Relations.

Before joining PRIO he was with Istanbul Bilgi University, where he has been the Director of the M.A. in International Relations Program and the Director of the Turkish-Greek Studies Division. In Istanbul he was also Adjunct Professor of International Law at Koc University.

Educated at the London School of Economics and the Panteion University of Athens, he has held positions at the University of Cambridge and the Institute of International Relations, Athens.

His teaching, research and policy interests lie primarily in the fields of public international law, the law of the sea, foreign policy, energy geopolitics, the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, and has published extensively in these areas.

Some of his recent publications in his current area of engagement include:

Gurel, A., Tzimitras, H. and Faustmann, H. (ed.) East Mediterranean Hydrocarbons: Geopolitical Perspectives, Markets and Export Routes, and Regional Cooperation. Oslo-Nicosia: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Brookings Institution, PCC Report 3/2014.

Gurel, A. and Tzimitras, H. "Gas Can Become the New Lost Opportunity" in Kerr Lindsay, J. (ed.) Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution. London: I.B. Tauris, 2014.

Gurel, A., Kahveci, H. and Tzimitras, H. "How to build confidence over energy issues in the context of a Cyprus settlement" in Andoura, S. and Koranyi. D. (eds.), Energy in the Eastern Mediterranean – Promise or Peril? Joint Report by the Egmont Institute and the Atlantic Council. Gent: Academia Press, 2014.

Gurel, A., Mullen, F. and Tzimitras, H. The Cyprus Hydrocarbons Issue: Context, Positions and Future Scenarios. Oslo-Nicosia: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, PCC Report 1/2013.

Tzimitras, H.Z. 'The Legal Implications of Gas Resources in the Eastern Mediterranean: International Law Perspective's in Nathanson, R. and Levy, Ro'ee (ed.) Natural Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean – Casus Belli or Chance for Regional Cooperation? Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2012.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "The prospects for Exploration and Exploitation of Oil and Gas in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean: Some Observations" in Faustman, H. and Gurel, A. Cyprus Offshore Hydrocarbons: Regional Politics and Wealth Distribution. Oslo-Nicosia: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Peace Rerearch Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, PCC Report 1/2012.

Research Groups

• Business and Peace

PRIO Departments

• PRIO Cyprus Centre

PRIO Projects

• Building Peace in Cyprus through Linkages (project leader)
• Conversations Across the Divide (project leader)
• Delivering the Cyprus Peace Dividend (project leader)
• Energy in Cyprus and East Mediterranean (project leader)
• From Separation to Contact: What Peace Looks Like in Cross-Ethnic Environmental Cooperation within the Cyprus Buffer Zone
• On Fair Terms: The Ethics of Peace Negotiations and Mediation (FAIR)

• Consequences of the Invasion of Ukraine for the Global South
• Engaging the Business Community as a New Peacebuilding Actor
• Re-Imagining the Eastern Mediterranean
• Security and Threat Perceptions
• Summer School: Nationalism, Religion and Violence in South-East Europe (project leader)
• The Peace Potential of Hydrocarbon Resources (project leader)
• The Post-Ottoman Space: Soft Politics and Hard Choices

Events

• Wed, 19 October 2022 – FAIR Cyprus workshop on ethical considerations in peace negotiations’
• Tue, 05 Jul 2022 18:15-19:45 – Online Roundtable - Energy and Security in the Mediterranean: when East meets West
• Mon, 04 July 2022 – Barcelona Summer School of the Mediterranean and the Middle East
• 25 - 26 Jun 2022 – A Vision for a New Lebanon: The Post-election Landscape - Reality & Reform
• Mon, 13 Jun 2022 15:00-17:00 – Web Panel: Turkish-Greek Tensions and the Impacts on the Regional Security
• Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:00-10:30 – "Grab a Cypriot Coffee" with Harry Tzimitras
• Tue, 19 Apr 2022 12:00-13:30 – The War in Ukraine and Its Impact on Energy in the Middle East - MidEast Lunch Seminar
• Thu, 04 Apr 2019 18:30-19:30 – Discussion with Thomas de Waal on his latest report entitled:
• Fri, 16 Nov 2018 09:00-18:00 – “The Belt and Road Initiative”: China’s new “Silk Road” and the Eastern Mediterranean
• Fri, 09 Nov 2018 09:00-18:00 – BREXIT and its Implications for Cyprus
• Thu, 28 Jun 2018 10:15-19:30 – Nothing Is Agreed Until Everything Is Agreed: A Comparative Evaluation of the Comprehensive Settlement Approaches
• Wed, 20 Jun 2018 18:30-20:00 – Solving the Cyprus Problem: thinking outside the box
• Mon, 02 Oct 2017 09:00-17:00 – Eastern Mediterranean Energy - Moving Forward
• Mon, 19 June 2017 – Nationalism, Religion and Violence in Europe and the Mediterranean
• Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:00-20:00 – From the Erdogan of Reforms to the Erdogan of Today
• Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:00-18:00 – Return, Remixing, and Reconciliation: Lessons to Be Learned
• Mon, 21 Nov 2016 09:00-17:00 – The Future of Eastern Mediterranean Gas
• Thu, 29 Sep 2016 11:30-18:00 – Conference: Re-thinking UNSCR1325
• Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:30-17:00 – Global Energy Debates and the East Mediterranean
• 09 - 10 Oct 2015 – The Everyday Lives of Sovereignty
• Mon, 29 June 2015 – IHU Summer School 2015
• Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:00-19:00 – What Next for Turkey?
• Mon, 23 June 2014 – Summer Seminar on Nationalism, Religion and Violence
• Mon, 16 Jun 2014 17:00-20:00 – Turkey in Europe: The Imperative for Change
• Thu, 14 November 2013 – PRIO Cyprus Centre Annual Conference: East Mediterranean Hydrocarbons
• Mon, 01 July 2013 – Nationalism, Religion and Violence in South East Europe
• Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00-16:00 – A Greater Good? The Role of Business in Fostering Peace
• Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:00-20:00 – The Cyprus Hydrocarbons Issue: Context, Positions and Future Scenarios
• Thu, 06 December 2012 – Women’s Peace
• Fri, 26 October 2012 – Good Governance in Europe and the Neighbourhood

PRIO started tracking events online in 2007. This listing is not complete. Past events may be mentioned in our news archive.

Publications

Book

Tzimitras, H.Z. "I Ifalokripida ton Nision sti Diethni Nomologia" [The Continental Shelf of Islands in International Jurisprudence] (with a preface by Prof. C. Economides) Athens: Sakkoulas Law Publishers, 1997.

Book Chapters, Articles and Reports

Gurel, A., Tzimitras, H. and Faustmann, H. (ed.) East Mediterranean Hydrocarbons: Geopolitical Perspectives, Markets and Export Routes, and Regional Cooperation. Oslo-Nicosia: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Brookings Institution, PCC Report 3/2014.

Gurel, A. and Tzimitras, H. "Gas Can Become the New Lost Opportunity" in Kerr Lindsay, J. (ed.) Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution. London: I.B. Tauris, 2014.

Gurel, A., Kahveci, H. and Tzimitras, H. "How to build confidence over energy issues in the context of a Cyprus settlement" in Andoura, S. and Koranyi. D. (eds.), Energy in the Eastern Mediterranean – Promise or Peril? Joint Report by the Egmont Institute and the Atlantic Council. Gent: Academia Press, 2014.

Gurel, A., Mullen, F. and Tzimitras, H. The Cyprus Hydrocarbons Issue: Context, Positions and Future Scenarios. Oslo-Nicosia: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, PCC Report 1/2013

Tzimitras, H.Z. 'The Legal Implications of Gas Resources in the Eastern Mediterranean: International Law Perspectives' in Nathanson, R. and Levy, Ro'ee (ed.) Natural Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean – Casus Belli or Chance for Regional Cooperation? Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2012

Tzimitras, H.Z. "The prospects for Exploration and Exploitation of Oil and Gas in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean: Some Observations" in Faustman, H. and Gurel, A. Cyprus Offshore Hydrocarbons: Regional Politics and Wealth Distribution. Oslo-Nicosia: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Peace Rerearch Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, PCC Report 1/2012

Tzimitras, H.Z. "The Politics of Law or the Law of Politics? International Law vs. International Politics and the Global Challenges in Governance and Sustainable Development". Global Science and Technology Forum (GSTF): Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Political Science, Sociology and International Relations (PSSIR), 2011

Tzimitras, H.Z. "EU Law: An Introduction". in Kaya, A. et. al. (ed.) Introduction to the European Union: History, Institutions and Politics. Istanbul: Istanbul Bilgi University Press, 2011 (in Turkish).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Alternative Forms of Nationalism: Superiority through Law in Greek Foreign Policy" in Aktar, A., Kizilyurek, N. & Ozkirimli, U. (ed.) Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle: Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Europe, Nationalism and Turkish-Greek Aegean Disputes" in Nikolaidis, K., Anastasakis, O. & Oktem, K. (ed.) Under the Long Shadow of Europe: Greeks and Turks in the Era of Post-Nationalism. Leiden & Boston: Brill/ Martinus Nijhoff, 2009.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Europeanization and Nationalism in the Turkish-Greek Rapprochement" Insight Turkey, vol. 10, No., 1 2008.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "The Emerging Framework of Greek-Turkish Relations: Traditional Clichés and New Perceptions" in Kappler, M. (ed.) Intercultural Aspects in and around Turkic Literatures. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2006.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "To Provlima ton Synhronon Epikliseon Ithikis sto Diethnes Dikaio kai tous Diethneis Thesmous" ["The Problem of Current Invocation of Ethics in International Law and International Institutions"] Exoterika Themata [Foreign Issues], A Foreign Policy Quarterly Review (Athens), No. 18, July 2005 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "O Proliptikos Polemos" ["Pre-emptive War"] Exoterika Themata [Foreign Issues], A Foreign Policy Quarterly Review (Athens), No. 15, October 2004 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Kritikos Anastohasmos ton Ellinotourkikon Sheseon: Esoterikes Parametroi kai Exoterikes Metavlites" ["Critical Rethinking of Greek-Turkish Relations: Internal Parameters and External Variables"] Exoterika Themata [Foreign Issues], A Foreign Policy Quarterly Review (Athens), No. 13, April 2004 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Diethnes Dikaio kai Syghroni Elliniki Exoteriki Politiki" ["International Law and Contemporary Greek Foreign Policy"] in P. Tsakonas (ed.), Syghroni Elliniki Exoteriki Politiki [Contemporary Greek Foreign Policy]. Athens: Sideris Publishers, 2003 (in Greek).

Constas, D. & Tzimitras, H.Z. "Grandi Sfide per la Presidenza Greca" ["The Great Challenges for the Greek Presidency of the European Union"] VI Foro Ellenico No. 48, January-February 2003 (in Italian).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Diethnes Dikastirio Dikaiou Thalassis: I Nomologia tou Sti Nea Hilietirida" ["International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Its Jurisprudence in the New Millennium"] Institute of International Relations: Yearbook 2002. Athens: Sakkoulas Law Publishers, 2003 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Evropaiki Politiki Asfaleias kai Amynas: Koinovouleftikos Eleghos kai Dimokratiko Elleimma" ["European Security and Defence Policy: Parliamentary Scrutiny and Democratic Deficit"] Exoterika Themata [Foreign Issues], A Foreign Policy Quarterly Review (Athens) No. 6, June 2002 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "To Anadyomeno Plaisio Epilysis ton Ellinotourkikon Diaforon kai to Diethnes Dikastirio tis Hagis" ["The Emerging Framework for the Settlement of Greek-Turkish Disputes and the International Court of Justice"] Exoterika Themata [Foreign Issues], A Foreign Policy Quarterly Review (Athens) No. 5, April 2002 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Mergitur nec Fluctuat: O Organismos Inomenon Ethnon sti Dini ton Diethnon Exelixeon ston 21o Aiona" ["Mergitur nec Fluctuat: The United Nations in the Whirlpool of International Developments in the Twenty-first Century"] Society for Political and Economic Studies: 3 Eksynchronismos [Modernisation], Oct.-Dec. 2001 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes and the Development of the Law of the Sea: The Role of the International Court of Justice". 10 Cambridge Review of International Affairs, No. 2, 1997.

Tzimitras, H.Z. "Mia Ypothiki gia to Mellon: I Ifalokrripida ton Nision kai I Ipothesi tis Voreiou Thalassis" ["A Hypothecation of the Future: The Continental Shelf of Islands and the North Sea Cases"] 11 The Athens Law Review, No. 1, 1996 (in Greek).

Tzimitras, H.Z. "The United Nations' International Security Role". The Institute of Public International Law and International Relations: XIX Thesaurus Acroasium, 1993.

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