Gas, all the latest anti-Turkey moves from Egypt
How is Egypt's offensive progressing in the Eastern Mediterranean on gas and beyond
The signing on 22 September of the founding charter of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum carried out in Cairo by the Egyptian Minister for Oil and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Mulla together with colleagues from six countries – Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy and the Palestinian Authority – will most likely mark a change of pace in the energy policies of the signatory countries.
With that signature, in fact, a real organization based in the Egyptian capital comes to life which, he writes to the Monitor who told and explained the event to his readers, aims to formulate at an international level "a common vision on natural gas in the region, and to oppose any project that is contrary to the objectives of the organization or in conflict with the interests of its members ”.
THE FINE EGYPTIAN ANTI TURKEY
The Egyptian move therefore stands as a brazen attempt, he writes to the Monitor , to "form an international lobby capable of opposing Turkish actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, and stopping what Cairo describes as the violation of its economic rights and attacks in the Mediterranean from Turkey ".
THE REACTION OF TURKEY
Not surprisingly, on the same day of the birth of the forum Ankara responded with a statement in which it clarified that it saw in the move of the signatories a "unilateral step away from Ankara, which has always called for the need to achieve an equitable sharing of natural resources in the region of Eastern Mediterranean ".
Brig. Gen. Samir Ragheb, head of the Arab Foundation for Development and Strategic Studies, is also of the opinion that the transformation of the forum into an organization is a thoughtful step to change the equation of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and reduce Ankara's aspirations.
THE COOPERATION WANTED BY EGYPT
For this reason Ragheb expects the organization to promote cooperation between its members not only at the political level, but also at the military level, with the joint organization of naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean aimed precisely at calming the hot spirits. of Erdogan and stop him from wreaking havoc in the region again.
HOW WILL TURKEY MOVE?
He is also of the opinion that the presence of European Union observers in the organization gives it greater strength than it could have if it remained a mere forum for discussion. Ragheb's conclusion is that Ankara will now have to redo its calculations, and completely recalibrate its aspirations.
And to think that there was a period, during this year, in which Ankara courted Egypt to seek friendship and at the same time sow chaos in the eastern Mediterranean, without reaching the point of forging a real formal alliance: it was a notable evolution in the position of Turkey, which until then did not cease to consider that of Al Sisi a government of coup leaders.
On January 13, Erdogan's chief adviser, Yain Aktay, publicly hoped that the two countries would cooperate with each other. And on 11 June speaking to the NTV , Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu declared that he hoped for the restoration of normal Turkish-Egyptian relations through dialogue and cooperation.
But these appeals have all fallen on deaf ears, and now Ankara finds itself alone to face a powerful coalition of powers that will try everything to recover lost positions and keep Ankara at bay.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/gas-tutte-le-ultime-mosse-anti-turchia-dellegitto/ on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 06:42:28 +0000.