Posted on 08/12/2020 4:34:19 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
Turkey claims it is “breaking a blockade” by sending naval ships under the guise of a research mission to the Mediterranean. For a country that is a member of NATO – and which has sent drones to Libya, is busy bombing northern Iraq and occupies part of northern Syria – Turkey’s narrative that it is under “blockade” is a novel approach to fan its latest maneuvers in the Mediterranean. Never in history has Turkey been less under blockade than it is today, yet it has manufactured a crisis with Greece to lay claim to areas of the Mediterranean, asserting it wants to survey and drill for energy resources when it hasn’t even developed such resources closer to shore.
The latest crisis in the Mediterranean appears entirely driven by Ankara’s desire to create a crisis where none existed before. Since November 2019, Ankara has signed a deal with the embattled Libyan government, which is in the midst of a civil war. It has used the war as an excuse to wring concessions from Libya and a deal that Turkey says gives it wide-ranging rights to the Mediterranean. Those demands now run into opposing demands by Greece and Turkey over the same waters – and also conflict with Cyprus energy exploration blocs that have been delineated for years.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
Is that like a Mexican standoff but with baba ghanoush instead of guns.
So, will we eventually have a hot war between Turkey and Greece? 2 NATO members?
Head shake.
Turkey is totally incompatible with NATO membership. Greece is an economic basket case.
Turkey is also an economic disaster were it not for Qatar support.
Who wins? Russia?
This is totally NUTS!
Not Ankara, but rather Erdogan.
He and the other Turkish Islam Uber Alles types.
Ataturk is spinning in his grave.
“So, will we eventually have a hot war between Turkey and Greece? 2 NATO members?”
Why not? Those 2 countries scrimmaged before over Cyprus back in the ‘70s.
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I can only wish Turkey was fully blockaded. Push them out of every foreign front they’re pushing on.
This time things are different.
Turkey has POed many in the ME with his support of the Terrorists.
Greece is an economic basket case, but they have some good fighter pilots and if Turkey attacks, I suspect we will deny Turkey signal support and probably silently help Greece with same.
Will this threaten NATO? Hard to say.
But Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and EUA both are openly opposed to Turkey’s expansionist activity via Terrorists.
“This time things are different.”
I’m not sure in what ways that ME countries figure into the strategic calculus. Quite the opposite. Seems that the Turks are getting around to picking a fight with the Greeks BECAUSE they have achieved what they wanted in Kurdish areas of Syria at little cost. Give Saudi Arabia a few years to invest in an army of radical Sunni’s and they might have a guerilla army that might bleed the Turks in Syria a bit, but that by itself wouldn’t be anything more than a strategic nuisance. But Turkey is on the move and Saudi Arabia doesn’t have that kind of time. In fact, from their perspective a Turkish clash with the Greeks might work to Saudi’s advantage.
Blockade? Sounds like he's suckin' up to the PLO squatters in Israel.
Turkey's top diplomat on Thursday said Greece and Egypt violated the rights and continental shelves of Turkey and Libya by signing a maritime deal on exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed that the text and map of the agreement had yet to be revealed, adding: "However, it's obvious by the given coordinates that the deal not only violates the rights and continental shelf of Turkey but also of Libya."
"Hence, an agreement that violates our continental shelf, which we have reported to the UN, is null and void and the reason why we've come to this point is that countries like Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, are trying to sign agreements with Egypt and Israel while ignoring Turkey," Cavusoglu added.
"We'll continue to show them and the world that this agreement is null and void on the table and in the field."
Egypt announced earlier on Thursday that it signed a bilateral agreement with Greece on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions between the two countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.'Greece, Egypt violate Turkey's, Libya's rights' Anadolu Agency | August 06 2020
Turkey, Malta and Libya on Aug. 6 agreed to promote joint cooperation, facilitate the return of Maltese and Turkish companies to Libya and resume flights between the three countries, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, his Maltese counterpart Evarist Bartolo and Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj held a meeting in Libya's capital Tripoli to discuss the latest situation in the North African country and joint cooperation between the three nations.
During the meeting, the sides underlined the need to strengthen Libya's southern borders and combat human trafficking and smuggling, noting that illegal migration posed a threat not only to the EU, but to Libya as well.
Both Turkey and Malta expressed their readiness to support Libya's internationally recognized government against illegal migration.
They emphasized the importance of the EU's participation in "tackling the root causes of illegal migration by helping the development of source countries."Turkey, Libya, Malta 'agree on joint cooperation' Anadolu Agency | August 07 2020
“achieved what they wanted in Kurdish areas of Syria at little cost.”
That is still debatable. I remember what happened to them in Al-Bab. They lost a lot of tanks, ISIS did it in an urban environment.
Yes, when US pulled out the Kurds could not withstand the air strikes.
Interesting. Thanks
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