How to solve the Turkish-Greek conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean? – opinion

There is a chance that the conflict will escalate into an armed clash. Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi says that Cyprus is the key. You can read below his further thoughts  about the issue published on his website, gyongyosimarton.com.

Cyprus is the key to the Greece-Turkey conflict – The Weekly 21

Already faced with countless serious foreign policy challenges, the European Union could really do without another Greece-Turkey conflict that may potentially escalate into an armed clash in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Undoubtedly, it seems a highly complex conflict with complicated international legal disputes over the existing maritime borders, navigation routes, special economic zones and natural gas mining.

However, the European Union still has the key to the solution as long as it is willing to stop scratching the surface and deep-dive into fully understanding the historical conflict as well as to manage the problem at its root.

Regardless how irritated many European countries may be by Turkey’s often brash foreign policy with its complete lack of diplomatic tactfulness, unilateral and threatening stance or President Erdogan’s general policy, the long-term settlement of the escalating international conflict does not seem to be feasible based on the argumentation that has been voiced by various political party groups and even Commission representatives this week, namely, that solidarity binds us to stand for the EU Member States Greece and Cyprus. Not only is this argumentation impracticable, it is also quite infantile and clearly reveals that the EU either cannot or does not want to understand the causal relations underlying the complications.

First of all, we should separate the issue of Greece’s intended special economic zones from the matter of gas mining.

From the aspect of international law, it is nonsense for Greece to unlimitedly create special economic zones around its islands near the Turkish shore because it would lead to the absurd situation where Turkey, which has the longest Mediterranean coastline, could hardly have legal access to the Mediterranean Sea on account of the special economic zones around the Greek islands near Turkey’s shore.

It’s not just common sense and a natural sense of fairness that make us say so: there are international legal cases serving as precedents (including a 1982 territorial dispute between Libya and Tunisia, over an island as well). Accordingly, Greece would have some limitations in terms of creating special economic zones around the islands.