Turkey's maritime jurisdiction agreement signed with Libya seems to have changed all balances in the Eastern Mediterranean. Because through this agreement, Turkey declared a new map to the world just like other countries in the region that defined their maritime borders according to their whims.
Just as this agreement provided Turkey with maritime borders that have come to be known as Blue Homeland, other countries in the region, chief among them Greece, and forces that back them have launched several attempts in the region.
The so-called exclusive economic zone agreement (EEZ) signed between Egypt and Greece last week, despite it being null and void, it has unveiled yet another map that they determined according to their whims.
Greece has embarked on a process of provocation by signing a null deal with Egypt, which is at odds with Turkey, on the transport of natural gas through Cairo to EU countries and through its so-called EEZ deal with Southern Cyprus over disputed areas off Cyprus in The Eastern Mediterranean.
The null agreement signed with Egypt on EEZs in the eastern Mediterranean shows just how emboldened Greece has become recently from the EU, particularly France. Despite Germany’s role as mediator with Turkey which delayed seismic research off the island of Meis, Greece going ahead with signing its null agreement with Egypt is another sign of this.
Meanwhile, with the Egypt-Greece EEZ agreement, which has no legal basis, They’re trying suffocate Turkey using the islands as mainland restricting it to the waters of Antalya and the Gulf of Iskenderun, which is a situation that Turkey will never accept, leading the waters to warm up in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece doesn't realize it's playing with fire.
Despite turkey's maritime jurisdictions agreement with Libya, Greece, Egypt and Southern Cyprus are trying to determine their so-called borders, showing that they are trying to buy time when it comes to maritime borders.
Egypt has much smaller maritime borders through the null agreement with Greece than it would have had it signed a deal with Turkey. Egypt's hostility towards Turkey is pushing to cede maritime zones to Greece. This also just goes to show how provocative Greece is getting.
Wide maritime borders in the East Mediterranean now constitute a crucial part of Turkey. The Eastern Mediterranean is indispensable due to its strategic importance in terms of economy, politics and military.
Turkey's East Mediterranean policy is such that no one can any longer impose maritime borders, or determine our maritime borders for us according to their whims.
We say time and again that the natural gas and oil resources that are likely to be discovered in the eastern Mediterranean within Turkey's maritime borders are the future of the country and represent the biggest opportunity in a century fo Turkey has under its disposal in order to end its dependence on foreign energy.
Turkey has its most powerful military, economic and political advantages under its disposal to protect its right in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Thus, Turkey should not postpone its seismic exploration and drilling activities that it had launched in the eastern Mediterranean, on the contrary it should even give further momentum to these efforts and it should not give them up. What Greece’s deal with Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean should serve as a warning to what these parties are capable of doing the first chance they get while Turkey sits at the table with the mediator and tries to each a decision over its seismic exploration activities.
