By Rachel Avraham
Recently, officials linked to the Turkish government approached MK Ayoob Kara and asked him to visit Ankara: “This request came because of the good relationship that I have built with the administration there over the years. The request was made due to their concern regarding the growing cooperation between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, on energy and other issues.” Both Greece and Cyprus are historic rivals of Turkey.
“The catalyst for these concerns is the Egyptian oil minister’s visit to Israel,” he noted. “It is a visit aimed at promoting energy cooperation between Israel and Egypt.” According to the Times of Israel, the visit is also aimed at promoting a united Israeli-Egyptian front against Biden. The Biden administration has been extremely critical of the Sisi government. In the past, he tweeted: “No more blank checks for Trump’s favorite dictator.” The Egyptian government is hoping that increased cooperation with Israel will help to subside some of Biden’s criticism of them.
However, the growing cooperation between Israel and Egypt also alarms Turkey, as Erdogan’s Turkey supported the now ousted Muslim Brotherhood government and Egyptian-Turkish relations have not really improved since. “The Turks are increasingly internalizing the fact that they need more cooperation with Israel if they want their economy to continue to flourish,” MK Kara concluded. “In addition, they understand that the religious extremism within their country is harming them.”
