Commenting on the critical standoff between his country and Turkey, the Greek prime minister said: We must negotiate in a civilized manner, as two neighboring countries, to reach solutions for our differences.

Here, it seems that he is asking for the impossible from the Erdogan mentality that is leading Turkey to bad outcomes. However, Erdogan believes that, with his foolishness and recklessness, he is making gains for his project of expansion, control and incursion, ignoring international laws, treaties and diplomatic norms, trying to add more tension to an essentially troubled region burdened with accumulated problems.

Exploration for oil or gas does not require sending naval vessels and combat aircraft to accompany the exploration ship, nor does it require training exercises for the Air Force and the Navy, simultaneously. This is a provocative military parade and sheer arrogance that no country will accept.

The Greek prime minister confirmed this by saying that unilateral activities are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated, and that Turkey must engage in dialogue or go to the International Court of Justice, and in the end Turkey will not be able to impose its ambitions and ignore important countries that have their areas of influence and their maritime borders.

What provoked Erdogan a lot was the recent signing of the Greek-Egyptian Agreement to define maritime spheres of influence, and it led to his announcement of the suspension of negotiations with Greece.

Egypt is a constant worry and concern for Erdogan because it is always on the lookout for his attempts to extend Turkish influence next to it, and has previously taught him a strong lesson in Libya that he dare not ignore, and here, by its agreement with Greece, it constitutes a maritime buffer against his mischief in the Mediterranean.

Furthermore, he is also facing a gradual political mobilization of the European Union (EU) countries against his reckless practices, and finally, he will realize that he is besieged by failure and disappointment.

However much things appear to be Turkish victories and gains, they are in fact long-term losses because Erdogan is weakening Turkey from the inside and is exposing it to dangerous adventures abroad.

– The author can be reached at: habutalib@hotmail.com Twitter: @HamoodAbutalib