Turkey's foreign policy faces a turbulent week as EU talks stall over Cyprus, Greece's PM prepares to visit Ankara, and U.S. energy giants quietly reshape the region's hydrocarbon landscape.
Turkey experienced a busy week on the foreign policy front — and even busier days lie ahead. The visit by Marta Kos, the EU's Commissioner for Enlargement, was significant but ultimately fell short of expectations. Kos offered no breakthroughs on either the modernization of the Customs Union or visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe. Instead, she reiterated the reforms Turkey must undertake — rule of law, democratic standards — areas where successive AKP governments have consistently dragged their feet.
According to a report by Zeynep Gürcanli in the Turkish outlet Ekonomim, the expansion of the Customs Union has once again hit a wall over the Cyprus issue. Greek Cypriots, who currently hold the rotating EU Council Presidency, are insisting that Turkey open its ports to vessels flying the flag of the Republic of Cyprus. The issue is not new, but it remains a stubborn obstacle. Retired Ambassador Selim Kuneralp, one of the Turkish Foreign Ministry's most respected EU experts, pointed out in a piece published on Medyascope that Turkish ports have been closed to Cyprus-flagged ships only since 1987, and to third-country vessels calling at Cypriot ports since 1997 — well after the 1974 and the 1983 declaration of the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. "If the port closure were truly about not recognizing the Republic of Cyprus as the legitimate representative of the island, one would have to ask: did we recognize it after 1974 and then stop recognizing it in 1987?" Kuneralp argued. He suggested Turkey could open its ports while simultaneously reaffirming that it does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration as the representative of the whole island — a formula that could unlock progress. Amid the domestic noise surrounding the "terror-free Turkey" debate and the judiciary's pressure on the main opposition CHP, Ankara may quietly move in this direction.
Greece's Prime Minister Raises Maritime Boundaries
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to visit Turkey this week, and his pre-visit remarks have drawn attention. Mitsotakis declared that there is "only one fundamental dispute" between Greece and Turkey: the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. The statement signals that Athens, too, is closely tracking recent critical developments in the region's energy politics.
The leading role in those developments belongs to the United States. The Trump administration appears determined to resolve the Eastern Mediterranean puzzle on its own terms — under a "win-win, but America wins the most" logic.
The American oil giant Chevron has signed memoranda of understanding first with the al-Sharaa administration in Syria and then with Turkey's state oil company TPAO for oil and gas exploration and production. According to Greek Energy and Environment Minister Papastavrou, Chevron is expected to sign similar agreements with Greece later this month. Another U.S. major, ExxonMobil, had already signed comparable deals with Athens at the end of 2025.
What Happened to Turkey's Drilling Fleet?
These developments raise pointed questions. Turkey invested enormous sums in acquiring its own drilling and exploration vessels — the Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Abdülhamid Han. Yet since 2020, none of these ships have been sent to the disputed areas of the Eastern Mediterranean. The field, it appears, has been left to the Americans.
The emerging picture suggests that "jurisdiction" over the Eastern Mediterranean's energy resources is being effectively transferred to American oil companies — and that this, in itself, is being treated as the solution. Whether this arrangement serves Turkey's long-term strategic interests, or merely trades sovereignty for short-term diplomatic convenience, remains the critical unanswered question.
Photo: Gemini AI