Egyptian authorities have taken new steps in an attempt to limit Turkish expansion in the Mediterranean basin to put Ankara in a critical position.
The Egyptian government announced a preliminary agreement with 5 international companies to explore for oil and gas in the western coasts of the Mediterranean, namely: American Chevron and Exxon Mobil, France’s Total, and the British “BP”, and the Dutch Shell.
This Egyptian move comes to reduce the Turkish violations in the Mediterranean, which also indicates that the transfer of the issue of the struggle for gas in the eastern Mediterranean to its west is around the corner.
By its proactive measure, Egypt put Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in serious embarrassment, which may amount to escalation with the United States, France and Britain, after Cairo gave major companies affiliated with these countries the right to search for gas in the western Mediterranean region bordering Libya.
Meanwhile, observers believe that this step would put an end to Erdogan’s new map that he drew for his country and included Syria and Libya as historical parts of the Ottoman Empire, indicating on more than one occasion that they are Turkish spheres of influence lost during the First World War and the time has come to restore them.
