The departure of the Turkish drilling rig, Abdul Hamid Khan, is scheduled for Tuesday. Ankara has almost completed the relevant preparations, as well as the corresponding tests of the drilling rig, which is now ready to set sail from the Port of Mersin, tomorrow to a currently unknown destination since its course will be announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
With an expectation that the ship could once again begin a campaign of violating Greek and Cypriot territorial waters, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who declares that Ankara will continue its policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and insists on the demilitarisation of Greek islands, opened new provocations against Greece.
"We continue our Eastern Mediterranean policy without compromise in accordance with international law and the principle of equality. In the Aegean, we want the interconnected problems to be dealt with holistically and to be solved comprehensively, permanently and in accordance with international law," he said.
"However, Greece cannot formulate a will to solve the problems. It does not give up its whims. We told and explained to our interlocutors, especially the UN, that the islands, let alone the islands near our coasts, which have a demilitarised status according to international agreements, are equipped. We will continue to address this issue, which is of critical importance for the security of our country".
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"We expect the European Union to take concrete steps. We will explain how Turkey is a necessary country with a program we have created. Turkey is Europe and Europe needs Turkey. European security needs Turkey," Çavuşoğlu stressed.
He also claimed that "we prevented the exclusion of Turkey and the 'TRNC' from the energy equations. We have broken through against us with our seismic exploration and drilling activities and with the Libya agreement of 2019."
"We have defined the limits of our continental shelf. Now the search for alternative solutions has begun which will include us. We have taken action together with the 'TRDBK' to incorporate this dynamic with the proposals we submitted."
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