For decades, the Eastern Mediterranean is a scene of rivalry between Greece and Turkey. A dispute over the uninhabited rocky island of Imia (Turkish: Kardak) led the two Nato members in 1996 almost in a war. Not least, the mediation of the American President Bill Clinton, prevented the outbreak of armed conflict.
Constant violations of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter planes are up today, everyday life in the Region. The recent escalation has a new quality. First, Ankara is now apparently not only against Athens but also against an EU-led Mission for the Monitoring of the arms embargo against Libya.
Secondly, is expanding with the threat by Turkish war ships, the conflict events in the Mediterranean even further and takes on new forms. That there could be conflicts of this kind, was, of course, already by the end of 2019, as Ankara and the Libyan government of Fajez Sarradsch in Tripoli signed a geographically bizarre the “Treaty on the delimitation of the spheres of Influence” in the Mediterranean sea, flanked by a military assistance agreement.
Once more: Erdogan’s Turkey is a factor of uncertainty in the Region. And, unlike the Almost-war of 1996, there are today no American President more, on the deeskalier, in the end, you should rely on, whether in the Eastern Mediterranean or elsewhere.
