Turkey may experience greater trials and difficulties with regard to its relationships with other countries in the near future. The country currently has three other nations as “adversaries” that have unified to oppose many of Turkey’s military and strategic actions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
These three adversarial countries are Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. Together, they are very close partners of India and, as reported, are in the process of developing a rapid response force.
This response force would be comprised of military personnel from these three countries to counter any actions taken by the Turkish Military. If formed, this force would present an enormous obstacle to Turkish President Erdoğan as he has been concentrating extensively on developing the strength of the Turkish military.
The Jerusalem Post said that senior officials from Israel, Greece, and Cyprus met recently to create a “rapid response force” made up of elements from all three nations’ armed forces. The response force is being formed as a counter to Turkey’s military activity and strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean, but security planning and reviewing are still in the development stage.
According to the report, the goal of the initiative is to enhance strategic defence cooperation among the three nations, given the increased regional instability. The force will be an agile and deployable force that can be deployed on land, at sea, or in the air to address a crisis. Several meetings were held this month to discuss the matter; however, the proposal has not yet been finalised. An informed source told The Post that there is significant involvement from the IAF, the IDF Foreign Relations Department, and the Israel Navy, coordinated through inter-service and government channels.
The summit between the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, and the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu will take place next week in Israel. Over the past several weeks, representatives from each government have met numerous times related to this event.
In November of this year, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced that Military Secretary Major-General Roman Gofman and Acting National Security Council Advisor Gil Reich held talks while visiting Greece regarding political and regional matters; both Israelis were accompanied by their Greek counterpart.
According to reports, an IAF commander met with high-ranking members of the air forces of Cyprus and Greece to work together on strengthening their individual countries’ air force capabilities. Recently, the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, and his Cypriot counterpart met in Tel Aviv.
A concept was discussed between the two ministers, which will be made up of approximately 2,500 personnel with a mix of about 1,000 Israeli soldiers and 1,000 Greek soldiers, and 500 from Cyprus, Greek news site Tanea reported.
The three nations’ potential military collaboration is receiving careful scrutiny from Turkey. Turkey has made extensive efforts to extend its influence into Syria by introducing an air defense system with the capability of targeting air transport and missile delivery platforms located within Syria. Turkey is evaluating the feasibility of joining a multinational coalition in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey has reportedly been in discussions with both opposing administrations in Libya in order to establish a new maritime agreement with Turkey. This agreement would position Turkey as a fundamental country within the maritime territories of the Northern and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Turkey’s growing influence has caused discomfort among its adversaries, including Israel, Greece, and Cyprus.