The Russo-Turkish Labyrinth and the Cyprus-Egypt-Israel-Greece Rapprochement

Abstract

This chapter will attempt to identify tendencies and proclivities by a number of actors who are protagonistic, or aspire to be such, in the convoluted geopolitical developments of the Eastern Mediterranean and the adjacent region. Questions to be raised include whether Moscow and Ankara can go beyond their material embrace to some kind of more complex interdependence; what could be the — potentially damaging — role of Turkey’s idiosyncratic political culture in Russia-Turkey relations; how far might these developing relations affect negatively Russia’s pragmatic-idealist bonds with Cyprus; what are, after all, Turkey’s overambitious geopolitical designs and how could Cyprus react to Ankara’s gunboat diplomacy and other provocations; how promising is the tripartite association of Cyprus and Greece first with Egypt and then with Israel; what, in the final analysis, can be surmised about American and British geopolitical aspirations and designs vis-à-vis Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, Greece and Turkey; and how does the Russian Federation appear to fit in this grand regional chessboard. The final chapter will explore the immediate implications of all the above for Russia-Cyprus relations.