... fact that the situation could get out of hand, the U.S. have therefore been prompted to recognise, at least at expert level, the need to work on technical deconfliction measures in this part of the world. This requires finding a way to untangle the Cyprus, Libya and Syria questions.
Artyom Semyonov:
Gas Without a Fight: Is Turkey Ready to Go to War for Resources in the Mediterranean?
As for Russia’s policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, we should recall Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov visited Damascus and Cyprus in 2020. Mr. Lavrov emphasised that escalation was inadmissible and called for peaceful resolution of the ...
... except for occasional positive gestures by some Western capitals and the explicit support for many Russian policies by Cyprus and Greece. Moscow, then, must struggle to undermine widespread anti-Russian propaganda. Hence it seems to Russophile Greeks of Cyprus and Greece that Russia should also contain its own “Turkey problem.” For during the current Russia-Turkey manifold embrace, President Erdogan's behavior could damage Moscow's own image and international prestige.
This article will revisit Erdogan's characteristic foreign policy decisions, actions, and ...
... relations has been so entrenched that even if the Moscow-Ankara bonding were to expand, the former set of relations
could well co-habit
with the latter [
1
].
Presently, however, Russia-Turkey cooperation has reached such levels that the nature of the Russia-Cyprus-Turkey triangle has become
labyrinthine
. Thus, whereas in previous years the Cypriots could expect and receive Moscow’s effective support and protection from hostile actors, these days they have not received what they are used to expect. In short,...
... stances. Nicosia should always remember that it is indebted to Moscow, as mentioned above has demonstrated; and it should not water down the pragmatic-idealist mentality of previous decades, for reasons of rationality, consistency, and decency.
1
. Turkey, alone in the world, refuses to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
2
. Natalia Kardash, “Russian Community in Cyprus: Advantages and Challenges”, paper presented at the University of Nicosia, 2 November 2010.
3
. See Russia-Cyprus Relations, Chapter 8, “Russo-Cypriot Prospects”, pp. 126 ff.
42
. Igor Torbakov, Correspondence with the ...
... “Classical Realism”, in Terry Nardin and David R. Mapel,
Traditions of International Ethics
(Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993), p.64.
18
. Council of the EU,
European Council conclusions on the Western Balkans and actions by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, 22 March 2018
, Press Release 164/18.
19
. See my
Russia-Cyprus Relations
, pp.129-134, for a discussion of Turkish political culture, which is shown to exhibit a rare combination of blatant contradictions.
20
. See “
Presidential Elections 2018, 25
th
Pan-Cyprian Research on Political Culture and Electoral ...
... norms as it has done to date, it would have to follow the opposition to Anastasiades’ stance that appears more principled and certainly more rational.
Yet another puzzle may be said to emerge from the current “material embrace” between Russia and Turkey. This issue was addressed at some length in my
Russia-Cyprus Relations
, where it was concluded that Moscow can be expected to remain bound by its time-honored commitment. However, the convoluted recent developments in Russia-Turkey bilateral relations might raise disconcerting doubts to Greek Cypriot minds....
... prevention of travel by Cyprus’s committed and well-known Russian friends. But there is also the legal/ethical argument that, whereas the EU (like the US) has rushed to punish Moscow for the post-Crimea developments, it has not stood effectively against Turkey for its 43-year-long occupation of Cyprus and its inhuman implications.
Therefore, Russia can certainly treasure a grateful and faithful friend and, in Dr Nadia Arbatova’s words, a “natural ally”
24
. Moreover, we may now record various additional benefits to Russia and additional dimensions of aforementioned benefits. First,...
