American Hellenic Institute

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An FYI from AHI: A New Geopolitical Bloc is Born
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An FYI from AHI

AHI Shares Commentary on Birth of Trilateral Relationship

WASHINGTON, DC—The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) would like to share with its audience an opinion piece published by The Jerusalem Post titled, “A new geopolitical bloc is born: Israel, Greece and Cyprus” by Ambassador Arye Mekel, former ambassador of Israel to Greece, and senior research associate, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. The commentary appeared February 21, 2016.

Ambassador Mekel describes the flurry of diplomatic activity between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus during recent months as “the emergence of a new geopolitical bloc in the region.” He cites as examples visits of high-level government officials and a government-to-government conference between Greece and Israel.  All of these diplomatic activities culminated with a trilateral summit held in Nicosia that resulted in the release of a joint declaration on seven areas of cooperation, which Ambassador Mekel termed as “significant” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as “historic.”

Ambassador Mekel also calls Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ policy toward Israel “both impressive and surprising.” The ambassador also comments on United States interest in the development of this tripartite cooperation and how the cooperation is open to all countries, including Turkey.

With regard to efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Turkey, Ambassador Mekel notes Israel “has been consistent in its attempts, including at the recent meetings, to alleviate these concerns, stressing that its relationship with Greece is sound and will not be compromised by its contacts with Turkey.” He adds, “From an Israeli perspective, the recent developments with Greece and Cyprus constitute a win-win situation. The strengthening of ties with these countries creates a new geopolitical bloc that could, to some extent, stand up to Turkey.”

The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.