Long before Turkish President Recep Tayep Erdogan came to power, Ankara tried to join the European Union in its various iterations, but was blocked by the Christian nations of Europe concerned by the political power to be given to a Moslem country according to its population – which is the rough equal of EU leaders Germany and France. But with the rise of an assertive Erdogan policy and the emergence of the Eastern Mediterranean as a resource-rich hotspot, the relationship between Turkey and certain member states – namely Greece, the ethnic Greek part of Cyprus, Italy and France grew progressively tense – until late last month when Germany and the leaders of European institutions helped de-escalate and start a mediation process. Panel: – Jonathan Hessen, Host. – Amir Oren, Analyst. – Dr. Eran Lerman, Vice President of the Jerusalem Institute of Strategy and Security and a Lecturer at Shalem College, Jerusalem. – Antonia Dimou, Director of Middle East and Persian Gulf Unit, Institute for Security and Defense Analyses.
