Relations Between Israel and the South Cyprus Greek Administration: A New Alignment in the Eastern Mediterranean?

Year 2016, Volume: 21 Issue: 2, 103 - 126, 01.07.2016

A Murat Ağdemir

Abstract

Important changes have shaped the Eastern Mediterranean since the discovery of energy resources and the disintegration of TurkishIsraeli relations. The widening divergence in interests between Turkey and Israel provided the geopolitical impetus for the development of a rapprochement between Israel and the South Cyprus Greek Administration SCGA . Shortly after the 2010 Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, Israel began forming ties with the SCGA. In particular, the relations between Israel and the SCGA have blossomed over mutual concerns about the energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, while at the same time political, military and economic cooperation among Israel, Greece and the SCGA have significantly increased. Moreover, regional instability prompted by the Arab Spring left the Jewish state with little choice but to form alternative friends among the states close to its geographical vicinity. In many ways, Israel’s developing relations with the SCGA seem to constitute a precursor of broader political and military cooperation, and an alignment of interests

Keywords

Israel, South Cyprus Greek Administration, Greece, Gas, Foreign Policy

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