Turkey will defend its right of hydrocarbon explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean and make no concessions in the ongoing territorial disputes in the region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Ankara:
"Turkey has no intentions on anyone's land, sovereignty or interests, but it will not make concessions on its rights," Xinhua news agency quoted Erdogan as saying at an event on Wednesday.
He warned that "Turkey will take whatever belongs to it in the Mediterranean, as well as the Aegean and Black Sea" and is determined "to do whatever is necessary, politically, economically and militarily".
He urged its NATO ally Greece to avoid making mis-steps, which, he warned, "could lead to its destruction".
Greece and Turkey disagree fiercely over their overlapping claims of hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, based on conflicting views of how far their continental shelves extend.
Turkey has sent an exploratory vessel and navy ships to the disputed waters, leading to rising tensions between the two neighbours.
Turkish research vessel Oruc Reis is carrying out seismic research escorted by warships in the region, while Greece disputes Turkey's energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.