Turkey’s goal is to break up Israel’s relations. It has also sought to entice Egypt with claims of reconciliation in the last month.
https://www.jpost.com/-By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
This comes days after Israel ended a naval drill with Cyprus, Greece and France. Turkey signed a deal with the embattled government in Libya in 2019 and has been threatening claims by Greece and Cyprus at sea over the last year.
Turkey’s pro-government media even sought to send maps to Israel, claiming it could sign a maritime deal with Jerusalem that would wipe Cyprus’s claims off the map.
Instead, Israel and Cyprus have amicable ties and a maritime boundary that they agree on. Israel is getting new Sa’ar 6 ships to defend its EEZ at sea and its gas platforms.
In addition, Israel signed a deal with Greece and Cyprus for an East Med pipeline last summer and is part of a gas forum with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and other states.
Turkey is angry that Cyprus, Israel and Greece “last week signed an initial agreement on laying the world’s longest undersea power cable linking their electricity grids.”
Turkey’s latest claim is that the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) EuroAsia Interconnector’s projected plans show it passing through Turkey’s continental shelf, Turkish media reports.
Turkey has arrested, jailed or forced into exile all critical journalists so its media reflects the government stance. Daily Sabah, TRT and Anadolu rushed to print the government claims about the continental shelf and the “note” Turkey is sending.
Turkey’s new note shows its real face compared to the claims of reconciliation last year. Turkey has also slammed Kosovo for opening relations with Israel and Turkey has tried to sabotage the new Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain.
Turkey is also angry that Sudan and Israel are now making peace. These are setbacks for Ankara which backs Hamas and has tried to isolate Israel over the last decade.
Now, Turkey finds itself isolated in the region. Its only friends are Qatar, Hamas and the weak Libyan government, as well as some extremists in northern Syria known more for ethnic cleansing and working as mercenaries for Ankara than accomplishing anything else.
Ankara wants to put on a new face, speaking with Russia and Qatar about Syria recently and also having its leader Erdogan pen an op-ed in Bloomberg. However, it has managed to alienate France and many other countries.
The US may work with Turkey on hosting a Taliban peace conference. Turkey appears to prefer Russia and Iran to working with the West and US. Even NATO appears to now be concerned about Turkey’s crackdown on democracy and its drift toward Russia and China.
In addition the US and India, as well as other Quad countries want to work closer with France, and France and India both want to work with the UAE.
This means an underwater cable or gas pipeline may be symbolic of larger changing dynamics. Ankara, for instance, is nonplussed that Saudi Arabia is also working with Greece.