Erdogan stresses Turkey's determination to continue activities in East Med
TAGS: Turkey
In fresh comments, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emphasized Turkey's determination to continue illegal activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkish vessels are continuing their seismic research and activities in the region, he said ina speech in Rizounta on Sunday in Turkey's Rize province. "We reached the verge of vessels colliding and we did not back down in the Eastern Mediterranean," Erdogan said, apparently rferrign to an incident between French and Turkish ships in the area in early July.
At the time, Erdogan had lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron, asking him with what right he spoke of the region.
"When we find oil or natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean, all those who oppose us now while form a line outside our door," he said.
He hit out at Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party, claiming that it does not back the country's activities in the Eastern Mediterrnan but instead "speaks the language of the Greek Cypriots."