Context
Turkish-Israeli relations suffered yet another blow as quarrel over gas in the Mediterranean Sea escalated. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip told reporters in New York on Wednesday that an Israel and Cyprus’ plan to drill for gas in the sea was “madness.” He said Turkey would not agree to any offshore drilling by the two countries until Cyprus resolves its territory dispute with Turkey; Turkish invasion in 1974 broke the Island into two, creating a Turkish Cypriot in the north. Erdogan threatened that Turkey would carry out its own energy exploration in the Turkish Cypriot if Cypriot and Israel did not halt their exploration.
Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv are already strained after Israel refused to apologize for its raid on a flotilla last year in which nine Turks were killed.
