Turkey Faces Aggressive Rhetoric From Egypt, UAE Over Its Foreign Policy

Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials voiced concerns on Saturday that a seismic survey planned by Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea would invade its territorial waters, and warned Ankara against starting the project. Last month, Turkey announced it would soon begin to explore the waters south of Cyprus for hydrocarbons production potential. The move upset the Greek government and Greek-controlled Cyprus, while also causing Egypt to caution Turkey against infringing on its “sovereign rights.” To make Ankara’s headaches worse, the UAE government called for Turkey to stay out of the civil war in Libya, following similar critical comments aimed by Turkey at the UAE. The bickering nations back two opposing sides in the Libyan affair. The UAE, alongside Egypt and Russia, sides with rebel-general Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, while Turkey backs the UN-recognized Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli.