The previous article examined how Israel is making every effort to weaken or break up Syria, the only state between itself and Turkey, on linguistic and territorial grounds, in order to surround the region's last military challenge, Turkey. While Turkey wants to see a buffer state of Syria under a stable central government.
To achieve their respective regional goals, Israel and Turkey want to expand their strategic sphere of influence in Syria. In fact, Israel has even established new bases in the Syrian region adjacent to the occupied Golan and is trying to prevent Turkey from getting any such military facilities to gain a foothold in Syria. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the government of President Ahmed al-Sharh based in Damascus entangled in various crises internally.
Israel's other eye is on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, just eighty-five kilometers off the southern coast of Turkey. Seventy-three percent of Cyprus's one million population are Greek-Christian and historically want to be part of Greece. While the twenty-five percent of the Muslim population has historical ties to Turkey and has lived on the Turkish island since the Ottomans captured the island in 1570, and then from 1878 to August 1960, the island was ruled by Britain.
Thirty-six percent of the Turkish-occupied Cyprus has been under the control of the Northern Cyprus Republic since 1982, while the Republic of Cyprus has been under the control of the Republic of Cyprus since 1982. The Turkish army occupied Northern Cyprus in July 1974 after the local army overthrew the elected president, Archbishop Makarios, and declared Cyprus's unification with Greece. Greece and Turkey have a long-standing historical rivalry.
The Northern Republic of Cyprus is considered a disputed territory by the United Nations. The Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the European Union as a legal government since 2004. The island's economy is developed and the per capita income is $65,000 per year. The climate is mild, so a large number of wealthy foreign residents like to build homes here in addition to tourism. Obtaining citizenship under Cyprus' Golden Visa scheme is also relatively easy.
The distance from the coast of Israel to Cyprus is 364 kilometers. Since 2015, Israel has begun to pay special strategic attention to the Republic of Cyprus. In 2018, the number of Israeli residents here was around 6,500. Today, more than 15,000 Israelis have moved to Cyprus, and during this period they have purchased more than 4,000 plots of land and property.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli residents live in walled colonies. These colonies have their own hotels and supermarkets. No non-Israelis, including local residents, are allowed to enter. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has also established several safe houses here.
Although there are also Russians and residents of other European countries living in Cyprus, they prefer to live among the local population, not in isolated fortresses like the Israelis. This behavior of the Israelis is also raising suspicions in nationalist circles in Cyprus.
Three months ago, the spokesman for the leading nationalist party in Cyprus, the Progressive Workers' Party, Stefanos Setifano, made a scathing statement that Israelis were buying up property in droves, building their own synagogues and schools there, and teaching their own curriculum. So far, most of the properties have been bought near sensitive coastal and strategic areas, including Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos. So this is not just settlement. Perhaps Israel is thinking of making Cyprus a sub-Israel. Following this statement, the Israeli ambassador to Cyprus, Oren Anuel, formally protested the Progressive Party, accusing it of anti-Semitism.
In 2017, a military cooperation agreement was signed between the Republic of Cyprus and Israel. Since then, the two countries have conducted numerous land and naval exercises. According to Israeli media, during the Gaza campaign, the Israeli Air Force used the Arkotiri base in Cyprus for surveillance flights over Gaza, although the base is managed by the United Kingdom.
Last month, Israel also provided Cyprus with the latest BRAC MX missile system. Its range is 150 kilometers. The BRAC system's 3D radar system can detect enemy movements within a radius of 460 kilometers. Not only this, but also mobile artillery and launchers within a radius of 100 kilometers can be easily detected.
This means that not only the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but all of southern Turkey is under constant Israeli surveillance. In 1997, the Republic of Cyprus attempted to purchase the Russian-made S-300 missile system, but the deal remained incomplete due to strong Turkish protests and pressure on Moscow. Meanwhile, the new BRAC system provided by Israel is more modern and effective than the Russian anti-missile system.
Although Turkey did not immediately react to the latest development, it is inevitably concerned about it. Former Turkish admiral and opposition leader Yanki Bagcioglu has warned that this Israeli move will not only destabilize the Eastern Mediterranean region but also directly threaten Turkey's national security.
Another former Turkish Admiral Jim Gerdnes believes that it is time for Turkey to seriously prepare to protect its national interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea separating Greece and Turkey, because its conciliatory policy is giving the wrong impression to its rivals. The alliance of Greece, the Republic of Cyprus and Israel with American support is clear evidence of this fear. This tripartite alliance poses a serious threat not only to the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, but also to Turkey itself and its maritime trade routes.
Israel has also made no secret of its intentions. In July, Shai Gal, former vice president of Israel Aerospace Industries, the company that makes the Brak missile system, wrote in an article that Israel should review its policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and help liberate northern Cyprus from Turkish rule. It is time to work together with Greece and Cyprus to develop a common strategy for this. The two parts of Cyprus could be united by removing the Turkish military infrastructure from northern Cyprus.
It is as if even the heavy stone of Turkey were to be removed from Israel's path, the next step towards a greater Israel would be just yards away from Tel Aviv.
(To read other columns and articles by Wusatullah Khan, click on bbcurdu.com and Tweet @WusatUllahKhan.)
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