Yesterday’s trilateral meeting between Mitsotakis, Netanyahu, and Christodoulides triggered strong reactions and concern in Turkey, with Turkish media describing the meeting as an “alliance of evil” and an “alliance against Turkey.” The Turkish press speaks of a consolidation of Israel, Greece, and Cyprus against Ankara.

“Joint accounts in the ‘triangle of evil,’” writes the pro-government Sabah. “At a time when a Turkish delegation was visiting Damascus, the leaders of Greece, ‘Southern Cyprus,’ and Israel held a meeting in Jerusalem,” the Turkish press writes, referring to the instability prevailing in Syria, partly due to the cooperation of Syria’s Kurds with Israel.

The major pro-government newspapers Hürriyet and Milliyet report that Netanyahu, irritated by Turkey’s growing influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, met yesterday in Jerusalem with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration, Christodoulides. “Greeks and Cypriots are seeking to increase military cooperation with Israel and are also trying to secure a role in the planned force in Gaza,” the Turkish press writes.

Excerpts from the Israeli media

The newspaper Milliyet cites excerpts from Israeli media regarding yesterday’s meeting:

Israel Hayom, in its article titled “Israel, Greece, and Cyprus: The strategic axis is strengthening against Turkey,” stated that the main purpose of this Trilateral Summit was to reinforce the regional alliance in the Eastern Mediterranean, adding that “this summit, held against Turkey’s growing power, was more important than ever.”

Channel 7, based in Tel Aviv, in its article titled “Netanyahu’s message to Erdoğan,” interpreted the Israeli prime minister’s words as a message to Ankara saying: “To those who imagine they can control our territories—forget it. This will never happen. Don’t even think about it. We are determined to defend ourselves.”

Ynet, in its report titled “A strong alliance has been formed against the common enemy, Turkey,” reports that “measures will be taken to create an organized ‘rapid reaction force’ against Ankara. This force, together with Greece and Southern Cyprus, will provide deterrence in the region against the ‘Turkish challenge,’ together with Greece and Southern Cyprus.”

Channel 14, assessing the summit as “a meeting that will determine the fate of the region,” states: “These three countries are determined to defend themselves. ‘We are three ancient countries,’ they say, ‘we will not allow Turkey to gain greater influence in our region, and we will defend ourselves very forcefully in the event of any threat.’”

Concern over Syria Kurds–Israel cooperation

It is worth noting that Ankara is also concerned about the situation in Syria and the cooperation between the Syrian Democratic Forces, dominated by Kurds, and Israel. With only nine days remaining before the deadline for the integration of the Kurds into the national Syrian army, the situation remains fluid and dangerous.