The emergence of Israel as a strategic partner for Greece and Cyprus has reportedly become a growing source of concern for Turkey, which historically sought to keep a divided Cyprus isolated and to maintain pressure on Greece’s eastern frontiers, according to a report in the Monday edition of Ta Nea.
Large-scale joint military exercises, intelligence-sharing arrangements and expanding defense cooperation among the three countries have strengthened a trilateral regional security framework that Ankara increasingly views as a challenge to its strategic objectives.
According to the report in Ta Nea, Turkish policymakers are acutely aware that any future crisis in the eastern Mediterranean would no longer involve only Greece or Cyprus, but potentially a broader network of partners possessing significant technological and military capabilities. The trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Israel partnership has continued to deepen through military cooperation programs, joint training and strategic dialogue aimed at enhancing stability and security in the region.
If the evolving eastern Mediterranean alignment troubles Ankara, France’s increasingly active role in the region is regarded as equally significant. Paris has steadily expanded its strategic engagement with both Greece and Cyprus, positioning itself as one of the leading European actors in regional security affairs.
At the same time, the renewal and expansion of a Greece-France strategic defense partnership, which includes a mutual defense assistance clause, has further strengthened Athens’ deterrence posture. The agreement was reinforced this year through a series of defense and security accords signed during French President Emmanuel Macron‘s visit to Greece, while France and Cyprus have also advanced defense cooperation arrangements facilitating a greater French military presence on the large island.
At the same time, Greece’s military modernization program, including the acquisition of Rafale fighter jets and Belharra frigates, alongside growing defense cooperation with Israel, has significantly enhanced the country’s military capabilities. Recent Greek-French agreements have focused on sustaining and expanding those capabilities through long-term support and interoperability initiatives.
Against this backdrop, Turkish officials argue that failure to break what they perceive as an emerging strategic barrier in the eastern Mediterranean could leave Turkey marginalized from future energy, transport and commercial corridors. This concern continues to shape Ankara’s support for the controversial 2019 Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum – which Athens, among others, considers as baseless and illegal – its deployment of research vessels in contested waters under naval escort, its advocacy of a two-state solution in Cyprus, and the continued promotion of the revisionist and irredentist “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which seeks to expand Turkish maritime influence across the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean.
