Conflict agenda: Reading into the Turkish behavior in the Eastern Mediterranean

In 2010 an important amount of gas reserves was detected off the southern part of the island of Cyprus. The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus provided licenses to energy companies to start drilling activities in the region. Turkey reacted against these developments by dispatching its own seismic vessels that were escorted by frigates. This raised serious security concerns and increased the possibility of the escalation of this dispute into an armed conflict, especially in 2011 and 2014. This chapter sheds light to Turkey’s security concerns around the island of Cyprus. What are the main stimulants that prompted the Turkish course of action in these two cases in the way they did? What is the mélange of fears, interests and ideas at play? The purpose of this paper is to figure out the stakes for Turkish foreign policy around the island of Cyprus. Although the official line adopted by the Turkish officials has been that the seismic vessel they dispatched at the Eastern Mediterranean aimed at the protection of the Turkish Cypriot rights on the natural resources of the island, the author assumes that the stakes for Turkey move beyond that. Economic calculations, fears and security considerations with respect to Turkey’s role in the region will be analyzed. Past research project