Ankara appears visibly disturbed by developments in the southeastern Mediterranean, as evidenced by yesterday’s statements from Tayyip Erdogan. A series of new factors may act as catalysts, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to counter them. The trigger for his annoyance was the first meeting expected to take place in Athens – within the framework of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation Summit (P-TEC) – of the “3+1” mechanism, involving representatives from Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the USA, which will discuss the energy upgrade of the southeastern Mediterranean, leaving Turkey out of the energy game.
Tayyip Erdogan hastened to clarify his intentions from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation session. As he said, “we are receiving strong messages that the island of Cyprus is being added to the menu of the imperialist game being played in our region. Therefore, I consider it important for our organization to further strengthen its solidarity with the Turkish Cypriot people.”
Read: New Erdogan provocations: “Cyprus is held hostage by an imperialist game”
Erçürhan and Erdogan’s new message on Cyprus
The change of president in the pseudo-state also appears to be emerging as an unpredictable factor for the Turkish government, as newly elected Ersin Tufan Erçürhan is changing the narrative about two independent states in Cyprus. It is no coincidence that Erdogan has not yet extended an invitation to the Turkish Cypriot new leader to visit Ankara.
However, on Monday the Turkish President reminded of Ankara’s positions on the Cyprus issue, insisting on the partition of the island. Speaking at the same session, he said “I expect you to give even greater support to the Turkish Cypriots’ struggle for rights, freedom and justice, on the basis of a two-state solution. God willing, we too, as motherland and guarantor country, will never leave the Turkish Cypriot people alone and will always be on their side in their just struggle…”
The response from President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides was immediate: “The only one behaving imperialistically in the region trying to implement a neo-Ottoman approach is Turkey. Let him ask all neighboring states what their opinion is regarding Turkey’s policy in the region,” emphasized Mr. Christodoulides.
Why the Turkish president is annoyed
According to Professor of International Relations Angelos Syrigos, the annoyance expressed by the Turkish President is also due to broader regional realignments, such as the maritime border delimitation between Cyprus and Lebanon that had been pending since 2007. “He is generally annoyed by the ratification of the Cyprus-Lebanon agreement, the ‘3+1’ mechanism session, and decided to remind what Turkey’s positions are.” An additional reason, according to Mr. Syrigos, is also the limitation of Turkey’s actions in Syria by Israel.
At the same time, domestically, the Turkish President seeks to project the image of a leader with enhanced confidence following two visits by European leaders to Turkey and the agreements he achieved with the purchase of Eurofighter jets. As he argued in Monday’s cabinet meeting, “with the agreement for the procurement of Eurofighter aircraft, we have started a new era in this field. On one hand, we will implement our domestic and national defense programs faster, while on the other we will strengthen our defense cooperation with our European allies based on the win-win principle.” It should be noted, however, that with the European defense alliances the Turkish leader concludes, he always aims for Turkey’s inclusion in the Rearm Europe program and SAFE, where he continues to face strong Greek-Cypriot refusal.
