Iranian website monitors Europe's "worry" over Turkey's increased influence in the Mediterranean

An Iranian website has highlighted the military and ideological forces in the Mediterranean region recently, he touched on the interests of many countries in the region, including Egypt, Turkey, Russia, the UAE and China.

The website “Iran Diplomat” in an article by expert and analyst in West Asian affairs Imad Hosseini, about the “power vacuum that will occur as a result of the U.S. retreat from this region, after President Joe Biden took office, he followed a new foreign policy”.

Hosseini also addressed the emergence of the Turkish naval force, the expansion of the field of long-term operations in the Black and Mediterranean Sea, and the purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia, in addition to the long-term consequences.

“The emergence of new powers in the Mediterranean region has led to new disputes over economic, military and ideological power, as some European analysts believe, that their union could not evaluate political processes from a strategic point of view during this dangerous and sensitive situation, he did not put his negative costs and his lack of progress on the test”.

“China, Egypt, the UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, has taken serious steps to advance its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean region and its coasts directly, or through tools that support them”.

He insists on “The EU and the most concerned member states (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta) are very concerned about their future concerns towards Turkey”.

 

Pressure Policy

“It is clear that the new power conflicts in this region have begun, it has economic dimensions, as well as military and ideological dimensions”.

“These authorities, regardless of their respective objectives, have taken advantage of the vacuum of the three authorities, where the EU vacuum was the greatest, the ambitious Lisbon Treaty resulted in its inability to reach a treaty on its policies in Syria, Libya or Turkey, “This has given way to Russia and Turkey to take decisive action in Syria and then in Libya”.

Another major vacuum resulting from the U.S. retreat from this Mediterranean region, which began with the administration of former President Barack Obama, accelerated during the tenure of former President Donald Trump, the latter's proximity to the powerful leaders of Russia and Turkey has caused uncertainty among America's European allies, opportunities were put at the disposal of the new authorities, the author said.

“Europeans today seem to be seriously concerned about turkey's actions; they believe that Trump's pressure policy has created an opportunity for Turkey”.

“Turkey wants to ally with Pakistan and undoubtedly seeks greater security and ambitions; to have the right space in the region and reach its desired goals faster”.

He continued: “Another kind of vacuum emerged at the beginning of 2020 with the Corona pandemic, the main energy of western governments has been somewhat reduced to stop most of their actions in the Mediterranean”.

“Turkey's naval strategy seems to be on the verge of change; because Ankara is no longer focusing on its relations with NATO again, instead, it is building a naval force with special authority in the region, so you can do long-term operations”.

Amazing Power

Ankara is scheduled to modernize its submarine fleets, by providing them with sophisticated ones in the coming years, in general, the Turkish navy is expected to prepare 12 to 14 modern submarines, this is a clear example compared to other competitors, particularly Israel.

On the other hand, the Turkish naval force threatens its competitors in the region, particularly Greece and Egypt, “The Zionist regime is said to be in serious search of potential threats resulting from this situation”.

Implicitly, Turkey's economic interests at sea are linked by a major animosity with Israel, taking into account the regime's contact with exports by sea, Tel Aviv will not be able to blind itself to the amazing Turkish naval force, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long stressed that his country must enjoy strong naval forces.

Hosseini said: “Some analysts believe that Ankara is pursuing its policies for the region, by military intervention in support of one of the parties to the conflict in Libya, from the Europeans' point of view, Turkey threatens their security interests”.

He added: “Turkey's procedures for its contact with Russia to purchase the Advanced Air Defense System S-400, is a repeated threat to the dissolution of the €6 billion support treaty with the EU, he opened the Turkish border for the attack of millions of refugees from the Middle East to Europe”.

He considerate: “Turkey's agreement with Libyan political officials in Tripoli, interpreted as another model of Ankara’s actions to conflict with European interests, and all these things inject the difference of values between Turkey and the rest of Europe, it has caused NATO problems; because the conduct of a member of this military treaty, Turkey, is contrary to the interests of the rest of the members”.

“Under the current circumstances, Turkey no longer seems to be focusing on its relations with the EU and NATO as before”, he noticed.

“Turkey's military strategy, particularly in the maritime region, is about to change, Ankara is currently working to establish special naval forces in the region, to be able to carry out long-term maritime operations”, the author said.

Hosseini concluded his article by saying: “The EU does not seem to agree with Turkey's ambitions, in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, which continue increasingly and evolving”.