The Mediterranean has become the center of demonstrations of power, perhaps more than ever before. With the support of the European Union and the United States of America, Greece does not want to miss even the smallest opportunity to open up space for itself. Whichever country Turkey has problems with, it contacts with that country in some way and aims to take joint steps with the psychological atmosphere it creates. As the recent efforts for mutual rapprochement between Turkey and Egypt have increased, insulting criticism has started to come to Egypt from Athens, including expressions like ungrateful. On the other hand, after the US blamed the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, some interesting developments emerged in the Gulf countries that seem to have been under US approval and surveillance.
Greece, which previously conducted exercises with Turkey, the USA and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Eastern Mediterranean, is also doing joint exercises with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, which deployed six fighter jets at the Souda Military Base on Crete, is actually positioning itself directly against Turkey with this decision.
Greece, which previously made an Agreement with Egypt for the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdictions, was trying to show that it is the main actor in the Mediterranean compared to yesterday. The statement of Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, "They constantly mention the exercises as a threat," showed that the message to be given was received by Turkey.
While Greece was doing exercises with Saudi Arabia in Crete, Israel started the exercise called Noble Dina in the Eastern Mediterranean and for the first time in history, France and Southern Cyprus conducted joint exercises with Israel. In addition, both the agreement with Egypt and the use of Crete in the exercises with the UAE and Saudi Arabia have different meanings for Greece. Greece, which has given more missions to its islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean than it should be, aims to start negotiations with Turkey from above by treating these islands as the mainland.
As a result, all these experiences increase the tension in the Mediterranean step by step. Although it is the right decision for Turkey to get closer to Egypt, it is difficult to predict what will happen next. However, these newly emerged exercises show that Greece moves with the opening of a higher mind. The loneliness of Turkey began to trouble him. Problems got more complicated. It is no longer possible to solve the S-400 alone with the USA. To talk about the F-35 at the same time, to decide what to replace the S-400s if they are abandoned, to read what is happening in Alexandroupolis correctly, to say something about the US relationship with the PYD-YPG, to evaluate Syria and its territorial integrity , CAATSA sanctions and the fate of the cases filed in the USA against Turkey. Because when you stop the S-400 from being a problem, other titles will not disappear suddenly. As someone who follows the recent foreign political developments more or less, I can say the following; Turkey had never before experienced such an unpredictable stuck. In fact, these are the natural consequences of the government's ordinaryization of foreign policy. We've always said it, let's say it once again, even if it hurts; The Syrian problem was the worst thing a country could do to itself. Turkey made this big mistake. The day the two-state solution in Northern Cyprus was opened for discussion, the infrastructure of what is happening in the Mediterranean today was prepared. After all, Greece is so comfortable that it is holding "consultative" negotiations with Turkey on the one hand, and conducting exercise diplomacy on the other hand. This diplomacy is based on squeezing Turkey into a corner. Steps are needed to get Turkey out of this grip.