Filis says Turkey’s regional role has strengthened after Mecca Agreement

Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkey is making a regional “comeback” and has gained an enhanced role through the recently signed Mecca Agreement, international affairs expert Constantinos Filis said on Tuesday. He said Ankara was increasingly confident of its position in the region and towards Greece and Cyprus.

Mecca Agreement

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Filis, a professor at the American College of Greece and director of the Institute of Global Affairs, described the mutual defence agreement signed in Mecca by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as the first attempt by Middle Eastern states to join forces within the new regional security environment.

Turkey’s participation gives Ankara an increased regional role and “even greater confidence regarding its position in the region and towards Greece and Cyprus”, he said.

Regional relations

Filis pointed to Turkey’s efforts to rebuild relations with Egypt, noting that Ankara had been largely marginalised in the Eastern Mediterranean only a few years ago, with the controversial Turkey-Libya maritime agreement as its main regional foothold.

“Today, Turkey has restored its relationship with Egypt to a significant degree,” he said.

He added that Syria, which under Bashar al-Assad had been hostile towards Ankara, had moved closer to Turkey, while Ankara was also seeking closer relations with Lebanon.

Cyprus cooperation

Filis said Turkey was deeply troubled by cooperation between Cyprus, Greece and Israel and would like to disrupt it.

He noted that Lebanon signed an agreement with Cyprus on the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones several months ago, although Lebanon’s domestic situation remained unstable.

According to Filis, the principal obstacles to Turkey pursuing its revisionist regional agenda are Greece and Cyprus, followed to a lesser extent by Israel.