The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the demarcation of water borders between Egypt and Greece is in response to the signing of a similar Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Siraj. The MoU was signed by the presidents of Turkey and Libya in November last year which angered officials of Cairo and Athens. Greece had claimed that the memorandum between Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Accord was “illegal” and that Athens, with the help of Cairo, was cooperating to meet any challenge in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Ankara has also been drilling and exploring gas in the Eastern part of the island of Cyprus, raising concerns among Greece, Egypt and the Zionist regime. The approval of the Egyptian President Al-Sisi and the Legislative Commission of the Egyptian Parliament of the said agreement showed that Cairo considers this agreement necessary for making investment in the “Mediterranean” reserves.

In this agreement, governments of Egypt and Greece, by declaring their adherence to the principles of the agreement and the targets of the UN Charter and in accordance with international law, expressed their desire to contribute to the stability of the region in good faith based on international law and reiterated their intention to strengthen neighbourly relations, friendship and mutual cooperation. According to the agreement, if each country enters into negotiations with another country that has maritime zones with the aim of determining its exclusive economic zone, that party must inform the other party before reaching a final agreement with the third country. Egypt does not accept hegemonic policies and creation of tensions by some parties and considers that foreign military presence in Libya will escalate the conflict and serve hegemonic targets.

With the discovery of significant gas reserves off the coasts of Egypt, Israel and Cyprus in the last decade, the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum was established in Cairo in early 2020 with the participation of stakeholders, France and Italy. Turkey, which has more or less strained relations with major regional players, was left out of the plan. Ankara considers any plans for political-economic cooperation contrary to Turkish interests in its surroundings to be hostile and the agreement between Egypt and Greece to limit Turkish-Libyan maritime authority as invalid. Based on its “Blue Homeland” doctrine, Turkey seeks to explore gas in the disputed waters and strengthen its military presence in the sea and in the surrounding territories (such as Libya).

The statement of Erdogan, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin addressed the countries involved in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean conflicts and invited the neighbours to talks and negotiations, noting that Turkey does not seek to confront any country in Libya and does not prefer a military solution in any part of Libya and does not seek to face any country in Libya, which indicates that Erdogan’s team seeks to reduce tensions with Egypt. According to Ankara, if Egypt shows the will to take positive action in regional cases, Turkey is ready to contact with it. If a ground is prepared for cooperation with each other in the cases of Libya, Palestine, Eastern Mediterranean and other issues, Turkey can only look at these issues with a positive view.

Of course, in recent years, Turkey’s interference in Egyptian affairs based on the neo-Ottoman approach has intensified. Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ankara’s relations with Cairo have severely strained since the fall of Egyptian Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. The issue of the Muslim Brotherhood is the most important obstacle to the normalization of Egypt’s relations with Turkey. There are dozens of members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey. Egypt seeks non-interference of Turkish authorities in the internal affairs of the country as well as the end of the Turkish media propaganda against Egypt and ceasure of its support and help for the Brotherhood.

With the implementation of this agreement, it seems that Turkey will see its interests in the Mediterranean region in jeopardy because the implementation of this agreement gives Egypt the power to oppose other Turkish regional policies. This will happen especially in Libya, and Egypt will put pressure on the Libyan Government of National Accord with the power that is generated by the implementation of this agreement. Turkey is a staunch supporter of the Libyan Government of National Accord in the Libyan conflict and is a tough obstacle to the progress of the agreement.

Undoubtedly, the new Athens-Cairo agreement has added a new knot to the Mediterranean conflict, and its effects were clearly visible at the eighth Greek-Cypriot-Egyptian trilateral summit in Cyprus. Although Cyprus claims that relations with Egypt and Greece are not against any country and that the aim is to establish stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, it explicitly emphasizes that Turkey’s illegal measures undermine regional stability and its exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean are not authorized. Turkey must respect UN resolutions and stop its actions of destabilization. Nicosia is hopeful for the realization of the tangible measures with an aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation and friendship between Cyprus and Egypt as well as continuation of the strengthening of the mechanism of trilateral cooperation with Greece, especially in light of Egypt’s role as a foundation for the stability of the Middle East and efforts within the framework of counter-terrorism and illegal immigration.

Heads of the three Greek-Cypriot-Egyptian countries, in a joint statement of the Nicosia Summit, condemned Turkey’s illegal exploration activities in the continental shelf and the Cyprus exclusive zone and stressed the importance of holding negotiations based on international law. The three countries, fully supporting Cyprus efforts to find a comprehensive, just and lasting solution, reiterated their concern over the escalation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and militarization of the region, which is a threat to the stability, peace and security of the Mediterranean.

In view of the heads of the three countries, delimitation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone should be done through dialogue and negotiations based on good faith and full respect of international law and called on Turkey to accept referring the case to the International Court of Justice in order to reach an agreement on delimitation and welcome signing and implementation of the agreement on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone between Greece and Egypt. In response to this meeting, Turkey emphasizes that although the three countries claim to support peace and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the constant targeting of Turkey in all the statements released by them shows the real intentions of those countries.

The Egyptian President, who appreciates Cyprus position in support of Egypt in regional and international forums and organizations, called the tripartite meeting as an agreement on approaches to the Eastern Mediterranean region and countering stressful policies, interfering in the affairs of neighbouring countries and countering terrorism. Egypt intends to continue to strengthen cooperation and increase consultation on important issues at the bilateral level and through the mechanism of trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. According to Egypt, the tripartite meeting was held to support and strengthen the distinctive relations among the three countries, strengthen political consultations and exchange of views on approaches towards ways of addressing the challenges facing the two Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East regions.