Media's influence in foreign policy options: The Eastern Mediterranean case

The Eastern Mediterranean Crisis started in the early 2000s when the Republic of Southern Cyprus formed its own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and made an agreement with the riparian countries. On the other hand, Turkey created its own regional maps and notified the United Nations.The desire to obtain all these natural gas resources has mobilized Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Greece and started a kind of invisible war between these countries. While the states are producing their own strategies, media is standing out in terms of format of developments presenting. In this study, first of all, reflections were observed about the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis in Sabah, Sözcü and Hürriyet which are the most read newspapers in Turkey. Firstly, whether these reflections have an effect on Turkey's foreign security policies, then how much and how they play a role in Turkey's geo-political decisions, and the interpretations of the decisions taken by state actors and the approach they implement are examined. The primary purpose of this study is to examine how effective the media is in making geopolitical decisions on Turkish state actors, with its interpretation, criticism, and approach. Keywords: Eastern Mediterranean Crisis, Hydrocarbon, Geopolitics, Media and Politics, Turkey.