SUSAN STRANGE GOES TO THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Abstract

The Turks have never defined or conceptualised the Mediterranean region as a totality, and thus there is no comprehensive understanding of the Mediterranean in Turkish foreign policy.[1] In general, the Turks perceive the Mediterranean region as being composed of the Middle East, Greece and Cyprus, the Balkans and Europe. This means that the concept of the Mediterranean, in fact, indicates the “Eastern Mediterranean” in the dictionary of Turkish foreign and defence policy thinking.[2] This can be explained by the fact that the Eastern Mediterranean is the setting for the unfolding of a variety of issues and problems perceived as being vital to Turkish political, economic and security interests, e.g., the problems with Greece, and Syria until recently , the Cyprus issue, Iraq and the Kurdish issue, the Arab-Israeli conflict and its spill-over effects in the region