The dispute over maritime borders and natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean between Turkey and Greece is increasingly bringing the two NATO states to the brink of armed conflict. Greece accuses Turkey of illegally searching for natural gas off the Greek islands. Ankara firmly rejects the accusations and insists that the waters in which exploration and test drilling take place belong to the Turkish continental shelf.
Turkey has gone ahead and declared its exclusive economic zone in an agreement with Libya – contrary to existing law. Greece then set out its claims in an agreement with Egypt – which blatantly contradict Turkey’s ideas. The special thing about this is that a decades-long dispute between two neighbors is drawing extraordinary circles. In addition to involving other countries in the region, it is above all straining cohesion within NATO, putting additional strain on EU-Turkey relations and massively undermining the unification process in Cyprus. Problems are even arising within the EU, as Cyprus is suddenly juggling EU sanctions against Belarus with sanctions against Ankara. A sustainable solution at the negotiating table is therefore urgently needed. The facts and background to this conflict and which points of this conflict are of particular relevance are analyzed by security policy expert and Militär Aktuell author Brigadier (ret.) Walter Feichtinger and Colonel Bruno Nestler in the paper “CSA kompakt #7” published by the Center for Strategic Analyses (CSA). In it, the two authors also provide an outlook on the further development of the conflict. In their opinion, a way out can only be found through dialog and negotiations “that ultimately lead to a sustainable agreement on maritime borders and the use of natural resources in the disputed areas. A first step would therefore be to reduce the risk of military escalation and develop an accepted procedure for talks and negotiations,” the two authors conclude.
Click here for the CSA analysis “CSA compact #7”.
