Then, in 2020, they signed a deal for an undersea pipeline (EastMed) that would carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe.The more than $6bn worth project is expected to satisfy about 10 percent of the European Union’s natural gas needs, substantially limiting the EU’s energy dependence from Russia. Setting aside the technical complications and the economic rationale of such a mega-project at a time when the global economy is moving away from fossil fuels, these plans have further irked Turkey, which since then has been trying to create turbulence in the region and force them to cancel. In summer 2020, Greece and Turkey came yet once more to the brink of a military imbroglio. This increase in tension very much owes to Turkey’s growing unease over its gradual marginalization and its erratic response to this perspective.
It is worth noting that the deepening of energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean has the American blessing. The US, together with Greece, Israel, and Cyprus, signed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act (East Med Act), in 2019, which reinstates their opposition to any destabilizing action in the region that would violate international law. In a joint declaration, the four countries agreed to "…defend against external malign influences in the Eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East". This initiative is indicative of the American interest in the energy developments in the region. This policy approach has not changed with the new Biden administration, that seems to adopt an even harsher attitude towards Turkey.
A cornered and diplomatically battered Turkey gives more reasons to the two countries for further military cooperation, given the precarious political and economic situation in the country and the unpredictability of the Erdoğan regime. Efforts to bring some life and warmth to the seriously damaged Turkish-Israeli relationship are underway, kicking off with discussions, in March 2021, for the mutual reopening of embassies in Tel Aviv and Ankara respectively. However, bolder and more far-reaching offers have been rejected by Israel, as was the case for a reported bilateral agreement, earlier in 2020, on the countries’ shared exclusive economic zones that would leave Cyprus in the lurch. Such efforts will continue as Turkey will struggle to get out of the diplomatic corner it is in. However, for the time being, the Greek-Israeli relationship seems to have moved on, if not to a full marriage, at least to a very serious engagement.
Copyright: menahem kahana / POOL / AFP
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