... will be a time consuming, high risk, and unfeasible project due to three factors. First, the agreement between Israel, Cyprus, and Greece is an unstable agreement considering the economic weaknesses of Greece and Cyprus, and political instability of Israel. Second, Turkey is not willing to give up on its claims and will certainly disrupt any development in the East-Med pipeline initiative.5 Lastly, the US backed containment of Turkey is not a consistent and reliable policy; as Biden Administration has already stepped ...
... million one to upgrade 48 F5’s, and joint manufacture of 1000 tanks and ‘some helicopters.’ Israel also hoped to sell Turkey an early warning system, and also used Turkish territory for low-flying exercises. Then came a sudden deterioration in Turkey-Israel relations, with Israeli commandos killing of nine Turks on a vessel trying to break the Gaza blockade. Military co-operation between Israel and Turkey was suspended. Backstage American pressure on its two key allies, however, along with an American ...
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Anna Manafova:
Is the Eastern Mediterranean a New Competitor for Russia on the European Gas Markets?
Transporting the gas to Europe demanded that Cyprus be involved. This once again raised the predictable issue of Cyprus and prompted a response from Turkey (which we believe to be somewhat belated). In the course of time, Israel succeeded in securing the support of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. The latter two states need to be involved for two reasons: the Aphrodite deposit was discovered off the coast of Cyprus and there is also the matter of transporting the Levantine natural ...
... beneficial cooperation, including in the military area. It is thus wrong to posit an “either/or” question.
On the other hand, a realist assessment of the situation “on the ground” reveals that the existence of particular situational arrangements with Israel and Turkey is something that benefits Syria itself. Let us take, for example, agreements on southern Syria, in which Israel unofficially participated. It was these agreements that allowed Syria to regain control of its southern provinces, provided that it ...
... it can cause much deprivation and misery, as compared to Saudi Arabia that is in a leading role of the Muslim Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In recent developments, after the historic peace deal between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, Turkey threatened to end its diplomatic ties with the UAE. However, Turkey was the first Muslim majority country to recognize the State of Israel in March 1949. Turkey, nonetheless, has severe reservations on whether the UAE would establish ties with ...
... order. The tension between the ruling elites and citizens will reshape regional political geography.
With conflicting principles of superpowers, the Middle East will undergo a high risk of conflict in spheres of influence between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other rising regional powers which seek to play a pivotal role in local and global affairs, attempting to shape the multipolar world.
The persistence of conflicts and the absence of real effective political and economic reforms will not reduce ...
... “second option” for Russia in Syria?
The situation around Russia in Syria is up for debate. No doubt, Russia would like to lead a reconstruction effort in Syria, in harmony with all relevant partners, including the UN, the EU, the USA, China, India, Turkey, Iran, Israel, the Sunni Arab states including the Golf Council Countries (GCC-states), Egypt and Morocco. However, many of the parties on the list of wished-for partners are strongly hostile to each other, and it might therefore perhaps not be possible for ...
... allies. One of the big questions is, barring a US ground presence in Syria, how would the US involve itself in Syria militarily? Would air and missile strikes from outside Syria continue? What about cross-border artillery fire from Iraq or Jordan? Would Israel or Turkey become more active in hosting US aircraft? Many questions remain. If the United States would continue or intensify an air campaign, then perhaps aid to US allies would not falter as greatly or sharply as feared. Conversely, an air-centric campaign ...
Working paper 42/2018
The Working paper was prepared by the Russian International Affairs Council as part of the project "Security System in the Middle East". This paper covers the issue of complex relations between Russia and Israel in the Middle East. The author analyzes in detail Russia’s role in the Israel-Syria-Iran triangle.
The degree of Iranian presence in Syria, the impact of the nuclear deal in the context of Israeli-Iranian regional confrontation, the role of the ...
... between Moscow and Ankara adversely affected both parties. As the U.S. continued to support the YPG in northern Syria, the Turkish leadership’s pragmatism prevailed and resulted in Ankara sending a letter of regret for the incident in 2015. In 2016, Turkey, under new Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, set a course towards mending relations and reducing tensions with its neighbors. Ankara began this process by restoring ties with Israel (the associated talks took several years), and then went on to make better relations with Russia [
35
]. The sheer volume of bilateral economic cooperation and the historic ties between Russia and Turkey going back to the 1990s helped the two ...