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Close to Erdogan with a conciliatory message to Israel Israel today

2020-12-07T10:42:21.174Z


| Political-politicalIn an article in the monthly of the Moshe Dayan Center, an associate of the Turkish president proposes to Israel a maritime border agreement • Dr. Cohen Inrojek: "First of all, the consuls and ambassadors must be returned" Netanyahu and Erdogan. Are Israel and Turkey on the threshold of a new path? Photography:  Mark Israel Salem and AFP After years of sharp diplomatic confrontation, another


In an article in the monthly of the Moshe Dayan Center, an associate of the Turkish president proposes to Israel a maritime border agreement • Dr. Cohen Inrojek: "First of all, the consuls and ambassadors must be returned"

  • Netanyahu and Erdogan.

    Are Israel and Turkey on the threshold of a new path?

    Photography: 

    Mark Israel Salem and AFP

After years of sharp diplomatic confrontation, another signal regarding Turkey's desire to reconcile with Israel.

Admiral Jihat Yaiji, an associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will tomorrow (Monday) publish a first proposal of its kind to regulate the maritime economic border between Turkey and Israel.

The article will be published in an Israeli magazine - the magazine "Turkeyscope" published by the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University - a move that in itself indicates a desire to end the tension with Israel.

Israel Today has learned that this is the second time that the Turks have signaled their desire to reach an agreement in the field of energy with Israel.

Four months ago, Ankara sent a clear message to Jerusalem about its desire to open talks on this issue.

However, due to the corona plague, the process did not evolve.

The proposal comes after a report last week in the Turkish media close to Erdogan about secret talks between Mossad representatives and their Turkish counterparts.

According to the report, even in these talks, Erdogan's emissaries expressed to regulate relations with Israel.

It should also be noted that in recent months, the President of Turkey has stopped making his blatant attacks on Israel. 

According to the proposal by Yaiji, the maritime borders of the two countries will be connected at the expense of Cyprus.

Prof. Yaji, who heads the Institute for the Study of Marine and Global Strategy at the University of Bahçeşehir, is an authority figure in Ankara.

As far as the Turks are concerned, the proposed agreement to Israel is a direct continuation of the maritime border agreement that the former admiral built with Libya.

The same agreement was signed with the Tripoli government on November 27 last year.

This agreement is the source of the current tension between Ankara and Athens.

If so far the Greeks have been outraged at the severance of maritime territorial continuity between them and Cyprus - then such an agreement would make it even more difficult for both Athens and Nicosia.

The proposed plan of Admiral Jihat Yaiji

First and foremost, the former admiral focuses on transferring Blocs 8, 9, 11 and 12 from Cyprus to Israeli sovereignty.

In Block 12, the bulk of the proven gas reservoir "Yishai-Aphrodite" is located, which is northwest of the Whale Reservoir and is owned by the "Delek", "Noble Energy" and "Shel" corporations.

This is a significant reservoir, with an estimated gas volume of 10-7 billion cubic meters (BCM) on the Israeli side, while 100 billion cubic meters on the Cypriot side.

This is when 100 BCM is equivalent to nine billion dollars.

Disputed maritime border

The maritime border between Israel and Cyprus in the area of ​​the Yishai-Aphrodite reservoir is still in dispute, despite all the agreements between the two countries on various issues.

At the same time, the Cypriots have many disputes over the maritime borders with Turkey.

Therefore, former Admiral Yaiji proposes to solve these problems, of both Jerusalem and Ankara, with the help of a bilateral maritime border agreement at the expense of Nicosia. 

Another benefit to Israel offered by Yaji as part of such a potential agreement is the connection of the Israeli gas pipeline intended for export to Europe - to the existing gas pipeline in Turkey.

According to his proposal, the Israeli gas pipeline will be connected to existing infrastructure in the province of Adana in southern Turkey, from where the gas will continue to the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) - and this pipeline to Europe.

According to the Admiral, "this is a significantly feasible and inexpensive option for Israel - compared to the 'EastMed' project."

The Eastmed venture is the product of a trilateral agreement between Israel, Greece and Cyprus signed on January 2 this year.

According to the agreement, by 2025, a total of 1,900 km of pipeline will be deployed from Israel to Cyprus, from there to Crete, to mainland Greece - and finally to Italy. It focuses on the maritime agreement between Turkey and the Libyan Accord Government, which was designed by former Admiral Yaji. 

"In the current status quo, Israel is losing 4,600 square kilometers of maritime territory," Yaji claims, "these are areas where there is already proven gas." With Israel, it indirectly states that in such a situation - Israel will recognize Turkey's position vis - à - vis Greece over the exclusive economic zones, near the islands of Rhodes and Castellorizo. Turkey and Israel will also share naval blocs south of Cyprus, "Let's be neighbors." 

Meanwhile, Israeli agreement to Yaji's proposal is expected to lead to strong opposition from Greece and Cyprus as one of several reasons.

First and foremost, they are likely to see the application of both Turkish and Israeli sovereignty over what they attribute to them as a status of their territorial waters - as an invasion.

Secondly, Israeli agreement to the agreement will directly, as stated, also constitute recognition of the Turkish position regarding the exclusive economic waters in the Rhodes and Castellorizo ​​area. 

Whale Reservoir, located near the Yishai-Aphrodite Reservoir / Photo: Noble Energy

Finally, he will put Israel in an ambiguous position vis-à-vis Abu Dhabi, in two respects: The first, Abu Dhabi's heir, Muhammad bin Zayed, recently signed a defense alliance with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsutakis.

Beyond that, tensions between the United Arab Emirates and Erdogan and his partners in the royal house in Doha - could lead to a real explosion between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi.

As for the Turkish proposal itself, a political source in Jerusalem said that improving relations with Ankara is a welcome move.

However, an offer that comes at the expense of Cyprus, is not even a starting point.

"Cyprus is an ally of Israel and the maritime border between the countries is recognized by the United Nations and the European Union," the senior official said.

"Turkish discourse towards Israel must change"

"In light of reports that there has been a recent rapprochement between the two countries' intelligence agencies, the very proposal of Yaiji in the article he authored with Zaynap Jihan indicates Ankara's aspirations to upgrade the relationship," says Dr. Chai Eitan Cohen Inrojek "However," the senior researcher cautions, "in order to upgrade relations between the countries to a real normalization, we must build a renewed mutual trust that requires the return of ambassadors and consuls first."

Dr. Cohen Inrojek adds that “for those mutual trust relations, Turkey must change the nature of its discourse towards the State of Israel. That is, to stop with the de-legitimization that is damaging Israel's image among the Turkish street. Beyond that, Ankara must give up its intimate relationship with Hamas. "If Erdogan does this, it can be estimated that Jerusalem will strive to find the ways in which relations will return to prosperity, as has already happened in the past."



Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2020-12-07

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