The New Geopolitical Landscape in the Eastern Mediterranean: the Israeli Perception Zenonas Tziarras University of Nicosia The article investigates the role of Israel in Eastern Mediterranean affairs, and particularly the dynamics of its participation in the new partnership with Cyprus and Greece, through the prism of its past and future relations with Turkey. It identifies the background context that led to current regional relations in the Eastern Mediterranean, evaluates the character and objectives of the Israeli-Cypriot-Greek (and Egyptian) partnership, and examines the prospects of this multiparty cooperation and mutual exclusiveness, under the light of future Turkish-Israeli relations. An enquiry about Israel’s geopolitical position in the region could notably be related to current Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s well-known monograph Strategic Depth: Turkey’s International Position; 1 what he laid out in 2001 about his vision of “Turkey’s international position,” is directly linked to the current affairs in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider Middle East. Among others, Davutoglu argued that Turkey’s strategic relations with Israel in the mid-1990s favored Israel and alienated Turkey from its Arab neighbors; 2 an implication that called for “the reevaluation of [Turkey’s] broader Middle East policy and its inter-regional outcomes” and the unburdening of the country from “the passive image that it presents in its relations with Israel.” 3 Eastern Mediterranean Geopolitical Review Vol. 1 (Fall 2015), 32-43. Dr Zenonas Tziarras, PhD Politics & International Studies (Warwick), MA International Relation and Strategic Studies (Birmingham), is a Political Analyst on Security and Turkey, and a Research Associate of the Diplomatic Academy at the University of Nicosia. 1 Ahmet Davutoğlu, To Stratigiko Vathos: Oi Diethnis Thesi tis Tourkias [Strategic Depth: Turkey’s International Position (Stratejik Derinlik: Türkiye’nin Uluslararası Konumu, 2001)], trans. Nikolaos Raptopoulos (Athens: Poiotita, 2010). 2 Davutoğlu, Stratigiko Vathos, 108, 631. 3 Davutoğlu, Stratigiko Vathos, 637. © 2015 Center for European and International Affairs, University of Nicosia.