The Eastern Mediterranean has once again become a focal point of geopolitical competition\u2014a place where a trilateral agreement among the Zionist regime, Greece, and Cyprus may go beyond a mere military pact and send a clear message signaling the beginning of Turkey\u2019s gradual strangulation on its western flank.<\/p>\r\n
Ali Heidari \u2013 Expert on Turkish Affairs<\/strong> The Eastern Mediterranean has once again become a focal point of geopolitical competition\u2014a place where a trilateral agreement among the Zionist regime, Greece, and Cyprus may go beyond a mere military pact and send a clear message signaling the beginning of Turkey\u2019s gradual strangulation on its western flank. Ali Heidari \u2013 Expert on Turkish Affairs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":2984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis-and-notes","category-note","category-the-most-important-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2979"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2985,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions\/2985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranview24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Last week, a regional security pact was signed in Jerusalem, under which the Zionist regime, Cyprus, and Greece decided to form a 2,500-strong rapid reaction force. According to this agreement, an attack on any one of the three parties would be considered an attack on the others, obligating them to intervene and assist the party under attack.
But why was this pact formed?<\/strong><\/span>
In his statement after signing the agreement, Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Turkey and Erdo\u011fan, saying: \u201cTo those who fantasize about building empires and dominating our state, I say: forget it. It will not happen. Don\u2019t even think about it.\u201d Beyond this explicit warning, another common feature among the three parties can be found in their longstanding rivalry or hostility toward Turkey.
Greece, which was expelled from Turkish territory after its defeat in the Turkish War of Independence in 1923, managed\u2014thanks to the Treaties of S\u00e8vres and Lausanne\u2014to assert control over vast areas of Turkey\u2019s maritime sovereignty by acquiring islands close to the Turkish mainland. This development has constrained Turkey\u2019s access in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, periodically reigniting tensions and even hostilities between the two sides.
The Republic of Cyprus, due to the occupation of its northern part by Turkish military forces in 1974 and the establishment of an autonomous republic there with Ankara\u2019s full support\u2014a situation that has continued to this day\u2014has experienced a kind of hostility in its relations with Turkey over the past 50 years and has missed no opportunity to strike at Turkish interests.
The Zionist regime during the Netanyahu era\u2014especially after the attack on Gaza and Turkey\u2019s stance on it\u2014has likewise sought to undermine Ankara\u2019s interests, pursuing this objective in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, and now even in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Why the Mediterranean?<\/span><\/strong>
The Mediterranean Sea\u2014particularly its eastern basin\u2014is of great importance both economically and geographically:
Energy Resources:
The Mediterranean is one of the region\u2019s vast energy reservoirs, and all neighboring countries are striving to secure a larger share. This issue becomes even more significant when we consider that after the Ukraine war, Europe made a strategic shift to reduce and eventually cut its dependence on Russian energy. In this context, Mediterranean energy resources\u2014close to Europe\u2014gain far greater importance.
Geographical Position:<\/strong>
The Mediterranean functions as a joint hinge connecting Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Any country or bloc that can establish a presence and dominance there can exert profound influence over the fate of the region. The importance of this area is such that even Russia, from thousands of kilometers away, has established military bases there, while the United States maintains a presence with the help of Cyprus and Greece, as well as its aircraft carriers.
Economic Value:<\/strong>
Tourism and the Mediterranean\u2019s marine resources are among the other advantages this sea offers its neighbors\u2014benefits that cannot be overlooked.
The Importance of the Mediterranean for Turkey
Since the Ottoman era, Turkey has attached great importance to this sea. A large portion of Ottoman expansionist operations were conducted via the Mediterranean, and aside from Spain, Italy, and France, vast areas of the Mediterranean were regarded as an internal Ottoman sea.
In the current era as well, due to its energy resources and the economic and political advantages they provide Ankara, Turkey has invested heavily in this region.
If Turkey gains access to the region\u2019s energy resources, it could not only meet its own needs\u2014estimated at more than $100 billion annually\u2014but also partially supply Europe\u2019s demand. This, in turn, would have a profound impact on increasing Turkey\u2019s political standing in Europe.
The importance of this region is such that Ahmet Davuto\u011flu, former prime minister of Turkey, has stated that Turkey is an Eastern Mediterranean country and must carefully pursue a strategy to secure its interests there. If Turkey is hemmed in by Greek and Cyprus in this region, its gateways to the world will be significantly constrained. Ankara must make maximum use of Northern Cyprus, which serves as an \u201cunsinkable aircraft carrier\u201d in the Eastern Mediterranean. Constraints in the Mediterranean would also limit Turkey\u2019s ability to project influence into Africa.
The points raised by Turkey\u2019s foreign policy theorists over the past two decades show that the Mediterranean is of vital importance to Turkey\u2014and that the Zionist regime has well understood that, to control Turkey at least on its western front, it can act to constrain Ankara with the help of Turkey\u2019s adversaries.
Strategic Isolation and Geopolitical Strangulation<\/strong><\/span>
At present, from Turkey\u2019s west to its south, it is surrounded by neighbors with whom it has numerous problems. Looking at the map, aside from Bulgaria\u2014which itself does not enjoy particularly warm relations with Ankara\u2014Greece, the Republic of Cyprus, and the Zionist regime form a crescent from Turkey\u2019s west to its southwest in the Mediterranean, all maintaining tense relations with Turkey. To the south lies Syria, which is under the influence of the Zionist regime and the Syrian Democratic Forces and is in a dire state. Thus, it can be said that Turkey is gradually being drawn into a form of geopolitical encirclement by the Zionist regime and faces difficult conditions ahead.
Conclusion<\/strong><\/span>
Following the Gaza war, the Zionist regime\u2014seeking to shape a new regional balance with American management and support\u2014has, after Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, turned its attention to Turkey in an effort to constrain this Islamic country as well.
Although the prospect of war between the Zionist regime and Turkey seems unlikely, Tel Aviv is pursuing the creation of coalitions against Turkey to exert comprehensive pressure on Ankara, with the help of its enemies and staunch rivals\u2014including Greece, Cyprus, the UAE, France, and others\u2014to curb Ankara\u2019s ambitions, at least during the Erdo\u011fan era.
For Turkey, the Mediterranean is of vital importance from energy, economic, and political perspectives. Aware of this, Tel Aviv is seeking to shape a military-security belt in the region to obstruct Turkey\u2019s interests there, limit its influence in the West, and curb its penetration into North Africa\u2014moves that will further intensify Turkey\u2019s strategic concerns, especially on its western front.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"