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ISTANBUL, Jan. 20-- As Turkey has renewed the call for cooperation in the hydrocarbon-rich Eastern Mediterranean, some analysts are skeptical about whether the call would bear fruit. Cahit Armagan Dilek, director of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, said that Turkey is unlikely to get any positive response, considering its sour relations with Israel, Egypt and Syria. Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed a deal earlier this month to construct an undersea pipeline the EastMed project to transport natural gas to Europe via Greece. "It's not economically, legally or diplomatically possible for a project in which Turkey is excluded in the Eastern Mediterranean to be carried out," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Ankara proposes a pipeline passing through Cyprus and Turkey to transport natural gas from Eastern Mediterranean to Europe. Necdet Pamir, a leading energy analyst, said it is still possible for Ankara to win over Israel due to lingering questions about the feasibility of the EastMed pipeline project. "From the very start, Israel seeks to transport the gas via Turkey to Europe," he told Xinhua. However, the negative attitude of the two political parties in power in both countries makes such cooperation difficult, he added. Israel sees Turkey as a major potential market for its natural gas, said Pamir, energy director of Sigma Turkey, an Ankara-based think tank. | 
