The triangle of Greece - Israel - Cyprus and the threats of Erdogan: The background of the meeting Gerapetrite with Fidan

In a new, more difficult and complex context, Agyra carries Greek-Turkish and Cyprus, as it now connects them directly to its wider geopolitical aspirations, but also its confrontation with Israel, which tends to take a strategic confrontation character.

The indications of this change of orientation of Turkish foreign policy were many in the previous period, but President Tayyip Erdogan's latest statements to the ruling AKP party last Wednesday reflected the whole context of the new Turkish approach.

Turkey is no longer sufficient to challenge Greek sovereign rights, nor, of course, to a solution through dialogue that will secure the rights of the two countries in maritime areas under international law. Ankara now demands to have a say in the exercise of Greek foreign policy, to veto its allied agreements and, above all, to prevent any relationship between Greece and Cyprus with Israel, which now considers itself a strategic opponent and a major threat to its national security.

With this concept now, any debate on the boundaries in the Aegean is gaining a different dimension, as Turkey is part of its own plan to cancel its alleged plans of encircling, mainly exclaimed by Israel and its "willing allies".

Gerapetrite - Fidan
On Wednesday in Sofia Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis had a meeting after a long time with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, in an attempt to investigate the intentions of the Turkish side, highlighting the side effects that the legislation would have on the "Blue Country" extremes and the need to maintain mild tones in a period of widespread instability in the wider region.

In fact, at a time when time counts in reverse for the NATO Summit in Ankara, on July 7-8, which will take place with the presence of President Trump and on a major issue of the identity crisis in which the Alliance has entered after the American President has weakened and undermined the Transatlantic relationship, while the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in Iran continue.

Despite the positive climate that the two foreign ministers wanted to broadcast, it is clear that G. Gerapetrite's remarks did not show any response from H.Fintan, who is in a particularly delicate phase, as he tries to balance the quicksand of the internal political scene, but also in the midst of his efforts to find a role for Turkey in Iran's crisis and restore relations with Washington.

Claims
H. Fidan, according to the official leak of diplomatic sources in Anadolu, insisted on Turkey's "rights" legislation, arguing that it will rely on International Law and respect the rights of the country's neighbours, demanding, as he said, equivalent respect from the neighbours.

The Turkish President in his speech in Ankara has put directly red lines, stating that Turkey's "security starts from Damascus and Beirut", but at this stage Turkey cannot defend against an Israel that is hardly even manipulated by them in the US. Erdoğan also directly linked Cyprus and Greece (without explicit reference to our country), arguing that "with ambitions far beyond their stature they have been on the boat of Israel's intrigues and have taken on the role of subcontractors of Zionism for some deceptive fantasies in the Eastern Mediterranean," and addressed the threat "...that no one should be attached to the chariot of the Zionist killing spiral. If there is an anti-law and the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean, I want it known that our reaction will be very clear and very harsh.".

In Ankara, of course, it is not unnoticed that the next day of the Erdogan statements in the US was another meeting of the 3+1 (Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the US) at the level of Energy Ministers. Also signed, in the presence of Greek Minister Stavros Papastavros, the declaration establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Centre (EMEC), which will be the stable research and development point for energy security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Nicosia is targeted
In the next few years Ankara, without leaving all Greece's movements in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, is targeting Cyprus, as the upgrading of the Republic of Cyprus, strengthening its relations - and at a defensive level - with the US, France, but also Israel and the promotion of the European mutual assistance clause under Article 42.7 of the Treaty of Lisbon form an enhanced protection umbrella for Cyprus against Turkish threats. At the same time, they strengthen the Republic of Cyprus in the face of processes in the Cyprus problem, where Erdogan wants to find an isolated, weak and free Cyprus.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres wants before the end of the year, when his term, which was poor in results, expires, to convene, perhaps even before August, a Pentamer Conference, which will enter the essence of the Cyprus issue and will not be limited to Trust Building Measures (MOE). A major obstacle remains, despite the rumour of a supposedly more flexible attitude by Erdogan, the Turkish position to abandon or alter the framework provided for in UN Security Council resolutions.

G. Gerapetritis and H. Fidela discussed these developments in the Cyprus issue in Sofia, as the personal envoy of UN Secretary-General Maria-Angela Olgin will visit both capitals. It is clear, however, that there is a long distance between the two sides and, however, the Cyprus issue is not the issue that could bring Greece and Turkey closer together.