Turkey and the Major Powers in the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis from the 2010s to the 2020s

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the recent Mediterranean disputes involving Turkey with respect to the major powers of the European Union (EU), United States (US), Russia and China. The author maintains that Turkey’s position has been determined by its own interests in the region as informed by its relations with the major powers, their vested interests in the disputes, Turkey’s maritime foreign policy ideology (Mavi Vatan), its economic and military capabilities and the shifting international system. Turkey is found to regard the EU and the US as supportive of the Greek and Greek Cypriot policies, although the EU countries are somewhat divided on how to show that support. In such a context, Turkey has desired to have Russia and China on its side in the disputes concerning the Eastern Mediterranean, to counterbalance the influence of the US and the EU. This, however, did not come to fruition since Russia and China opted to remain neutral.