28 Aug, 2011
Asia Times Online : Israel turns tables on Turkey
True to style, Israel is looking around the region for comfort and companionship with anyone who might also have an intractable problem with Turkey – it didn’t have to look far across the Mediterranean.
The two-day visit by the Foreign Minister of Cyprus, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, to Tel Aviv, which ended on Thursday, was much more than a routine call. The minister had just assumed charge in Nicosia and headed for Israel as soon as her customary first visit to Athens was out of the way.
Quite obviously, Nicosia and Athens (which has an ancient grudge to settle with Ankara) put their heads together and assessed that Israeli regional policies are on a remake. Cyprus and Greece have had indifferent ties with Israel, but a compelling commonality of interests is sailing into view. A realignment of regional powers is taking place in the eastern Mediterranean, the leitmotif being the “containment” of an increasingly assertive Turkey.
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