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The regional aspirations of the Turks towards the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean and the countries of North Africa

On 9-4-2011, it was announced by the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu that, in accordance with a directive from Prime Minister Erdogan, it was decided that the region of Izmir and Antalya would be included in the areas of practice of Turkish diplomacy, with the creation of corresponding diplomatic missions. The head of these missions will be Ambassador Dicle Kopuz, who serves in Bratislava and will assume his new duties in Izmir in June 2011. It is noted that there are approximately 56 consulates in Izmir and on 26-27 April 2011 the European Council on Human Rights Meeting was held with the participation of 21 ministers and senior state officials-lawyers from 47 countries. Also, the fact that on April 16-17, 2011, the 4th Conference of Students of the Turkish World was held at Akdeniz University in Antalya, with the main topic of discussion being "Turkish Identity in Western Thrace" and the key speakers being Greek Muslims from Xanthi Cemil Kabza, Ahmet Kara and Suat Çolak, is of particular interest and concern.

Basically, Turkey's diplomatic activities are carried out on the one hand from Ankara, which is the administrative center and decision-making center, and on the other hand from Istanbul, which is the center of the country's economic and business activities.
The Marmara region, with its remarkable technological and economic infrastructure and centered on the cities of Istanbul and Kocaeli, is an important tool for the regional aspirations of the Turks, both towards the Balkans and the Caucasus and the Turkish-speaking states of Central Asia.
Regarding the Balkans, according to the Turkish strategy, the industrial and cultural lines of Kocaeli, Istanbul, Radesto and Edirne are sought to be extended to Athens, Sofia, Tirana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Skopje, Belgrade and Bucharest. The Turkish term "akilli inisiyatif (smart initiative)" is used to implement this strategy, which uses universities, tourism, industry and cultural activities as tools. Consequently, the role of the military presence in the Marmara region is also important, such as the 1st Army with the NATO headquarters of the 3rd Army Corps, the Fleet Headquarters with the naval base of Gölcük and almost all of the war academies, which, with the deterrent power they possess and the military diplomacy they practice, further strengthen Turkish foreign policy.
Erdogan's decision to include Izmir and Antalya in the centers of Turkish diplomacy, holding international summits and collaborations there, is related to the intended expansion of the industrial, cultural, energy and military lines of the western coastal region towards the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean and the countries of North Africa. In recent years, the Turks have created free trade zones in the cities of Mersin, Antalya, Izmir, Adana and Denizli, while they have allocated large credits for the development of the western coast, establishing large industrial units, implementing housing programs in all cities, expanding and modernizing the road-rail networks and upgrading port facilities. At the same time, in collaboration with the University of Izmir and the Akdeniz University in Antalya, research centers were created that deal with issues of food safety, rural development, biology, energy, environment, nanotechnology, geology, etc. It is particularly noteworthy that special emphasis has been given to medical service providers along all western coasts, with the aim of promoting the health support they can provide, on the one hand, to search and rescue operations, and on the other hand, to operations to evacuate the wounded from areas where there are crises and conflicts, with a recent example being the evacuation of the wounded from Libya to the hospitals of Izmir.
Regarding the military presence on the western coast, it is considered appropriate to point out:

• The Aegean Army with the amphibious exercises it carries out every year at the national level. Meanwhile, in March 2009, Turkey for the first time held the amphibious exercise Egemen-2009 (Hegemon) in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean region with the participation of forces from the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands and England.
• The air bases of the 1st Tactical Air Force, which with their fighter aircraft violate Greek national airspace daily.
• The naval bases of Izmir, Aksaz, Mersin and Alexandretta, which with the warships they have, on the one hand, challenge Greek sovereignty in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean almost daily, on the other hand, contribute to Turkish foreign policy, both with the allied missions they undertake, and with the display of the Turkish flag in the ports of various countries they visit, as well as in the itineraries they follow. The following recent statement by Ahmet Davutoglu is characteristic: "With the crisis in the countries of North Africa, our warships and fighter planes are constantly over the Eastern Mediterranean."
• The Turkish Armed Forces General Staff, which is carrying out the inter-branch search and rescue exercises Deniz Aslani and Anadolu Yildizi in the area between Lesvos and Chios, where observers from foreign military missions located in Turkey are invited. (ed. in the official announcements of the Turkish General Staff it is stated that the area in question belongs to the search and rescue area of ​​Turkey).

Turkey, taking advantage of its geographical location, geostrategic value and importance in the Eastern Mediterranean, seeks to expand the scope of its political and economic influence on the sea routes and impose the role it desires. In addition, it seeks to give its international image the characteristic of a strong military and political power in the Middle East-Balkans axis, centered on the Mediterranean Sea.
One aspect of Turkey's strategy, which is constantly in the news and concerns the expansion and expansion of its economic and cultural lines, is the pursuit of visa-free travel from the European Union states. Turkey has already achieved visa-free travel from Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Russia and Georgia.
In recent years, Turkey has been implementing an active policy in the Middle East and the Arab world, the main characteristic of which is the approach to the ideological choices of the opposition of these states and the appropriate approach to Islamist groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc. This policy may bring temporary benefits to Turkey, but it will create serious risks for it in the future, including the continued non-recognition of the pseudo-state by the international community, which, combined with the poor and undemocratic governance of the occupied territories, will result in a greater weakening of Turkey's psychological ties with the Turkish Cypriots.
Finally, it should be particularly emphasized that after the rupture in Turkey-Israel relations, France follows, because the Turks believe that the French are seeking to isolate them from Europe and the Middle East, to confine them to southeastern Turkey and to deny them "sovereignty" in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Taking into account all of the above and in combination with the internal problems that exist in view of the elections next June, such as the uprisings and the "political-religious indiscipline" of the Kurds, the troubled relations between Islamists and Kemalists, etc., create the conditions for the crisis to spill over, with the most likely arena of confrontation being the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.