Before Israeli President Isaac Herzog makes his country’s first presidential visit in a dozen years to Turkey next month, he plans to stop in Nicosia and Athens to reassure those allies of Israel’s continued commitment. The order of the meetings is telling: Turkey, last on the agenda, is clearly the headliner, while Cyprus and Greece are opening acts.
Israel’s diplomatic nicety underscores the extent to which Turkey has strengthened its position in the Eastern Mediterranean in the past two years. In late 2019, the EU levied sanctions against Turkey for its exploratory drilling in waters claimed by the Republic of Cyprus, but which Turkey claims belong to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Some weeks later, Ankara signed a maritime borders deal with Tripoli that essentially ignored the Greek island of Crete and sparked widespread criticism. The next summer, after a tense standoff of French and Turkish vessels near the Libyan coast, France suspended its Nato patrols in protest of Ankara’s aggressions. Then Turkey and Greece came to the brink of war due to a dispute over a tiny Greek island a few kilometres off the Turkish coast.
September 2020 saw the official formation of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, which sought to build a major pipeline to Europe. With Israel, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Jordan as members, the new alliance was widely seen as a counter to Turkey. The UAE and EU soon joined as observer states.
By the end of 2020, Ankara appeared increasingly isolated. Fast forward 14 months and it peers out at a new world
Also that September, the US lifted its long-standing arms embargo on Cyprus, enabling military shipments to the Turkish rival. Following Turkey’s purchase of S-400 missile defences from Russia, the US had evicted Turkey from its F-35 programme and many observers called for Turkey to be ousted from Nato. By the end of 2020, when former US president Donald Trump levied sanctions against Turkey for the S-400 purchase, Ankara's isolation seemed complete.
Fast forward 14 months and Ankara peers out at a new world. The race for Eastern Mediterranean gas reserves ended almost before it began, as a price decline and a pandemic-driven drop in demand rendered Europe an unlikely market. Washington underscored this shift last month when it dropped out of the EastMed Pipeline.
What’s more, Turkey boosted its regional energy stance with a sizeable gas discovery in the Black Sea, which is expected to come online next year. More recently, pro-government outlets report another major Black Sea discovery could be in the offing.
Ankara and Athens continue to snipe at each other, but for the past year, the two have regularly met for high-level talks, including this Monday, to settle a range of disputes. In northern Cyprus, Turkey has established a drone base and helped install an Ankara-friendly president. And since TRNC voters now prefer Turkey’s two-state plan to the bizonal federation they had long advocated, the two-state proposal is now part of official negotiations. Meanwhile, Nicosia has shifted from calling for sanctions on Turkey to focusing on confidence-building measures.
Perhaps most importantly, in recent months Turkey has been able to simultaneously improve ties with regional heavy hitters in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. Last week, the UAE welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with great fanfare as the two countries signed more than a dozen co-operative agreements, mostly in defence and trade.
That rapprochement is already paying dividends in Libya. Turkish Ambassador Kenan Yilmaz last month visited House Speaker Aguila Saleh in the country’s east, while the UAE named a new ambassador and reopened its embassy in Tripoli.
Despite the cancellation of the December elections, there seems to be momentum towards reconciliation, with Ankara and Abu Dhabi playing key roles. In addition, the US much prefers the continued military presence of Nato member Turkey in Libya to that of Russia, in the form of Wagner Group militants.
Even the Ukraine crisis has thus far helped boost Turkey's regional profile, as the US and Nato understand that a greater role for Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, and as Ukraine’s ally, can help contain Russia. Also, favouring Turkey in these theatres could help keep Ankara onside if war does erupt between Ukraine and Russia, as many expect.
Turkey is now in talks with Riyadh about its president visiting Saudi Arabia, while top Erdogan adviser Ibrahim Kalin stopped in Israel last week to lay the groundwork for Mr Herzog’s Turkey trip. The Israeli president is expected in Ankara March 9-10, and Tel Aviv has made clear that normalisation will not require Turkey to cut ties with Hamas, the Gaza-based, Muslim Brotherhood-linked terror group that has offices in Istanbul.
Anticipation for the summit is considerable, as it will mark the highest-level bilateral meeting since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which Israeli troops boarded a Turkish humanitarian vessel aiming to break the Gaza blockade and ended up killing 10 Turkish citizens. Some analysts have even suggested that Turkey might offer an alternative to the faltering EastMed Pipeline plan and help deliver Israeli gas to Europe.
Rampant inflation, growing public resentment and record numbers of Covid-19 cases still trouble Turkey at home, but beyond its borders, Ankara is riding high. It’s almost as if the past dozen years had been erased.
To top it off, just as Mr Herzog departs, Turkish officials will open the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. The March 11-13 summit expects high-level delegations from Greece, Egypt, Israel, the Council of Europe, Malta, Iraq and other regional players, perhaps including Armenia.
Turkey is suddenly poised to cement its renewed position of prominence in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. It’s all rather tenuous, and one wrong move could still derail this peace train. But since late 2020, what Ankara has achieved with a shift in approach, a dash of desperation and a bit of chutzpah is impressive, and shows just how fleeting isolation can be in this fast-changing geopolitical landscape.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
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Prada @prada
Revolve @revolve
Uniqlo @uniqlo
Warby Parker @warbyparker
Zara @zara
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Stage result
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 4:42:34
2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
5. Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
6. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7. Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
9. Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirate
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MATCH INFO
Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
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