Turkey’s president on Thursday blamed Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration for increasing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean by excluding Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
“WE’D NEVER PURSUE AN UNNECESSARY ADVENTURE OR STOKE TENSIONS”
“It’s not Turkey that is increasing tensions in the Mediterranean, but rather the Greek Cypriot-Greek mentality attempting to disregard Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the 19th foundation anniversary of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
Erdoğan repeated Turkey’s call for dialogue and negotiation with Athens as “the only way to a resolution in the Eastern Mediterranean” for a “win-win solution.” “We’d never pursue an unnecessary adventure or stoke tensions.”
Reiterating that recent seismic research by Ankara’s drill ship, the MTA Oruç Reis, in the Eastern Mediterranean was within the boundaries of Turkey’s continental shelf, he stressed that Turkey had no interest in violating any other country’s rights but would also not allow infringements on its own.
He said all Turkey’s actions in the region were legitimate and that recent actions against Turkey by other countries were meant to encircle the country from the sea. “We’ll never bow to this scheme. No country or company can conduct [drilling] surveys in our areas without our permission.”
Erdoğan criticized Greece’s claims of maritime jurisdiction via its island of Meis, or Kastellorizo, off Turkey’s coast, saying that the case for a zone of 40,000 square kilometers (11,662 square nautical miles) via the roughly 10 square km (3.9 square miles) island was “ridiculous and unfounded.”
As part of the country’s hydrocarbon surveying activities, Turkey issued a NAVTEX (navigational telex) on Aug. 10, 2020, announcing that the Oruç Reis would begin conducting fresh seismic research in the Eastern Mediterranean.