Turkey is dismantling one by one the plots of Israel, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, which seek to implement their dirty plans with historic moves in the Eastern Mediterranean. A NAVTEX valid until August 30 has been issued for the planned 101-kilometer pipeline to the TRNC and seismic surveys in the Mediterranean.
The Turkey-TRNC Natural Gas Pipeline Project, once completed, will create a route enabling gas supply from Turkey to Cyprus, from Cyprus to Turkey, and from Turkey to Europe. The bi-directional pipeline is also expected to help transport Eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe via Turkey in the future.
With the project’s completion, the TRNC will gain access to safe, uninterrupted, sustainable and cheaper energy. Turkey’s historic steps in the Blue Homeland, its planned projects and domestic drilling vessels are causing panic in Israel, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration.
The three-way alliance, which openly expresses its discomfort with a rising Turkey at every opportunity, is trying to block Ankara’s initiatives but remains helpless in the face of geopolitical realities. Dr. Mustafa Caner, a faculty member at Sakarya University’s Middle East Institute and a foreign policy researcher at SETA, delivered striking assessments on the issue to DailySabah.com.
Providing critical insights into the region, Mustafa Caner stressed that Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean follow a calculated and strategic line, that Turkey holds a decisive position in both energy and security that Europe cannot ignore, and that Israel’s ostensibly energy- and economy-based actions are driven by purely geopolitical motives, one of which is to squeeze and constrain Turkey.
As provocative statements by Israeli officials, such as “There could be contact with the Turkish military at sea,” have increased lately, Mustafa Caner said of Israel’s goals in the Eastern Mediterranean and its cooperation with the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece: “Israel, squeezed on the Palestinian and Iranian fronts, is trying to find an exit in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of its strategy of expansion and encircling Turkey.”
Mustafa Caner added, “Israel’s geographical expansionism is seeking a path through the Eastern Mediterranean to the extent it is blocked in Lebanon, Palestine and Iran. It began meticulously preparing the material basis for this over the past decade. The 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum is one of the cornerstones that paved the way for the current situation.”
“The reality we must see here is this: beneath Israel’s ostensibly energy- and economy-based actions lie purely geopolitical motives, one of which is to squeeze and constrain Turkey,” he said.
Turkey has issued a NAVTEX until August 30 for the planned natural gas pipeline to the TRNC and seismic surveys in the Mediterranean. Regarding what the 101-kilometer natural gas pipeline project will bring Turkey and the TRNC, Mustafa Caner said, “This gas pipeline has the capacity to enable both energy flow between Turkey and the TRNC and from Turkey to Europe. Therefore, it will not only strengthen bilateral economic ties but will also nurture economic and energy relations with Europe.”
Pointing to the energy crisis Europe fell into with the Russia-Ukraine war, Caner said, “It is clear that an extremely positive opportunity will emerge for European countries. Of course, this situation may also encourage Europe to move toward a constructive resolution on the Cyprus issue that respects the political rights and gains of the Turks.”
Answering the question “What is the fundamental strategy behind Greece escalating tensions by citing the islands? What underlies Greece’s close cooperation with Israel?”, Mustafa Caner said: “The 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum was an anti-Turkey initiative that emerged with the participation of Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel. Although Egypt also took part, the Turkey-Egypt rapprochement and multi-area cooperation prevented this forum from standing out as an anti-Turkey bloc. Moreover, the forum’s potential to create a broader anti-Turkey position by including Gulf countries was also thwarted thanks to the deep cooperation Turkey developed with the Gulf. In the end, no one remained but Greece and Israel, and today Greek public opinion and politicians are admitting that they fell into Israel’s trap. Therefore, to take the right steps against Turkey, Greece must question its relations with Israel.”
“The NATO Summit was the declaration of that reality.” The NATO summit held in Ankara clearly demonstrated Turkey’s rising power in the international arena to the whole world and to Turkey’s adversaries. Delivering striking assessments on the NATO summit and Europe’s energy security, Mustafa Caner said, “Europe is still confused. They oscillate between their material needs and geopolitical realities on one hand and their chronic, irrational anti-Turkey attitudes on the other. I hope they will soon act on a more rational line. Because Turkey holds a decisive position in both energy and security that Europe cannot ignore. The NATO summit was the declaration of this fundamental reality on the stage of international diplomacy.”
“‘Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean follow a calculated and strategic line.’ Highlighting what may happen in the Eastern Mediterranean in the coming period and the latest developments, Mustafa Caner said, ‘The energy equation in the Eastern Mediterranean is shaped directly by geopolitical balances and ultimately shapes those balances in turn. Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean follow a calculated and strategic line. Moreover, the Eastern Mediterranean is not independent of Turkey’s political-military position in other regions. Turkey’s power projection, concentrated in Syria and Lebanon, inevitably reflects into the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, we must address the files as interconnected within a holistic regional vision. The momentum in Turkish-U.S. relations and Israel’s discomfort with it will also find a reflection in the Eastern Mediterranean.’”
