Nour al-Din: Turkey wants to enhance its influence to seize wealth

The Eastern Mediterranean region witnessed an escalation of the conflict between the competing powers on the political and economic levels, as Turkey intensified its movements in Libya, so, Hawar news agency (ANHA) held an interview dialogue with the expert on Turkish affairs, Mohammad Nour al-Din.

The text of the dialogue came as follows?

* In your opinion, why did the Turkish state intensify its movements in the Mediterranean region during this period?

The discovery of oil and gas riches in the eastern Mediterranean marks the beginning of a new stage in this region, where competing power overwhelmed them politically, and therefore Egypt, Israel, Greek Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Jordan established a Gas Conference in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2019 to cooperate and demarcate the maritime borders between them, and exporting gas pipeline to Europe.

Turkey has reached conclusions that these countries participating in the conference are trying to deprive them of wealth, by depriving them of the waters of Cyprus on the one hand and encroaching on the Turkish maritime areas on the other hand, so Turkey and through the means of re-establishing its influence and expanding it again in the Middle East in a greater way began with great movements once Another is to seize the areas of underground rich in oil and gas.

* There is a Russian-Turkish rapprochement in several axes and issues related to the Middle East. In your opinion, what is the reason for this rapprochement?

The Russian-Turkish rapprochement started mainly from the Syrian arena, where each party found cooperation with the other in order to achieve gains and strategy from its angle. Therefore, a rapprochement occurred between Russia and Turkey, where Turkey agreed to pass a gas line that runs from Turkey to Europe, and also agreed to purchase a system S-400 also made a commitment to Russia to establish nuclear bases in the Turkish region of Mersin, and in return Turkey took a lot of gains in Syria. For example, the Russian green light for Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch, and to stay in Idlib in one way or another by establishing Turkish observation points, as well as Russian approval to launch an attack on the areas of NE, Syria.

Russia sees all projects with Turkey as positive, as Russia, through its expanded projects, also tries to keep Turkey away from America, and to cause tension in the Atlantic countries and the European Union, and this is what Russia is betting on, in fact, it can be said that there are cross interests between the two parties that pushed the two countries to rapprochement in Last few years.

Currently, Turkey is looking for a new deal for it in Libya. How would you evaluate this matter? Will there be signs of a new Russian-Turkish deal in the region after Syria?

I do not think that there is a Russian-Turkish agreement in the region after Syria. Rather, it can be said that there is a contradiction between the Turkish and Russian positions. Turkey supports Fayez al-Sarraj Brotherhood government, while Russia fights this government and supports opposition fighters, and this is normal. Russia is trying to expand its influence there by supporting Khalifa Haftar's forces meanwhile fight militant groups in Libya before they reach the Russian border.

Russia is also fighting militant groups in Syria, which are one of the main goals of its interference in the Syrian issue, for Turkey, as it is not looking for a new deal for them in Libya, but is looking for additional footholds for it, and a focal point that is an important factor in its conflict with the opposing forces in The Eastern Mediterranean and the Arab region, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and the fact that the internationally recognized Libyan government is close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Turkey takes advantage of this point in order to strengthen its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood, and it succeeded in doing so through the agreement to draw the maritime borders between the two countries, and this was a strong blow against the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Alliance, as well as the military cooperation agreement which allows Turkey to have the most prominent role, but it constitutes a pressure point on the opposing force in the Arab region.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), especially America, is not satisfied with Turkey's move towards Russia. In your opinion, what is the real American position on Turkish moves, deals, and relations with Russia?

There is no doubt that the United States is disturbed by Turkey’s relations with Russia, and it has tried a lot to curb these relations through economic sanctions, especially recently approved by Congress, as well as military sanctions imposed on it through a serious call to remove Turkey from the advanced F-35 aircraft program, Unless the purchase of the S-400 missiles is stopped, also by taking the decision to recognize the Armenian genocide in the House and Senate, as well as by supporting the eastern Mediterranean countries and putting pressure on Turkey in this framework, and by lifting the arms embargo to Greek Cyprus as well.

There is no doubt that the United States is troubled by Turkish behavior and the great openness to Russia, and it is trying in turn to stop this alliance in various forms without reaching the point of breaking with the regime in Turkey because Turkey is ultimately in the United States alliance in the Middle East.

There is an international rejection of Turkish interference in Libya, especially Arab and European countries, and despite that, Erdogan continues in his endeavors. Is Russia trying to implicate Turkey in a conflict with the international community in Libya?

I do not think that there is a Russian effort to implicate Turkey in a conflict with the international community in Libya. There are Russian interests that met Egyptian and Emirati interests as well as largely American in exchange for Turkey, the government of al-Sarraj and some Western countries that support al-Sarraj's government as being internationally recognized.

There is no doubt that Libya is turning into an international regional conflict arena, different from the one that existed in the period of Muammar Gaddafi's downfall and NATO intervention.

The Middle East has become a region of deals among world powers. In your opinion, where is the Middle East heading in light of all these deals?

The Middle East has always been an arena of intersection and rivalry between regional and international powers, and I believe that there is a fundamental thing that governs these conflicts: The first is the presence of oil wealth in most areas of the Middle East to the Gulf to the Caspian to Iran, the second point that gives importance to this region is the presence of Israel, and the pursuit The permanent Western, and especially the American side, to protect the security of Israel, and it is the only one that threatens all the surrounding countries.

For these reasons, the Middle East region is very vital for all countries, whether regional or global, and it will remain so as long as it is a region of wealth, a region of strategic maritime corridors, and a region in which Israel exists as a spearhead of global imperialism and to subjugate the peoples of the region and plunder their wealth.

(T/S)

ANHA