Türkiye’s interventions in its regional environment

Türkiye faces several challenges in its regional environment. It is involved in three conflicts: the Syrian civil war, where it has been directly involved since 2016 to prevent the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish territory near its borders; in autumn 2020, in the Caucasus in support of Azerbaijan against Armenia; and since January 2020 in Libya, in support of the Tripoli government opposed to Marshal Haftar.

It should be noted that the frozen Cyprus conflict is no longer a source of fighting, but the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Ankara, remains a source of discord with Cyprus, Greece and the European Union more generally.

Türkiye is also very active in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. Energy issues (gas extraction and transport) are major concerns in this region, and competition is fierce, particularly with Greece. Türkiye is also concluding cooperation agreements, notably with Libya, to exploit these reserves. Türkiye is claiming a larger Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in this area and disputes Greek sovereignty over some of these maritime areas. This tense situation has led to several incidents between Turkish ships and the Greek, Cypriot and French fleets.

This map is taken from L’Année stratégique 2022.