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Turkish drilling activities planned for early July, says official

Turkish drilling activities planned for early July, says official

In an announcement that echoed the standoff between Greece and Turkey in 2020, Ankara is planning fresh drilling activities in the East Mediterranean. 

The CEO of the Turkish Petroleum Exploration Company, Melih Han Bilgin, said on Wednesday that the fourth drilling rig purchased in 2021 will arrive in Turkey in a few days to begin activities in the East Mediterranean. 

“Once the repair work… is completed, it will be ready for its work in the Mediterranean in early July,” he said. 

At the same, Turkey’s ruling party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik stated that Turkey’s “Blue Homeland” doctrine – which envisages large swaths of the Mediterranean under Turkish influence to the detriment of Greece’s sovereign rights – is a “red line” for Ankara and accused Greece of “killing refugees.” Celik defended the illegal Turkish-Libyan maritime borders memorandum and noted that Ankara’s cooperation with Tripoli was for the protection of Turkey’s rights in the region. 

Celik stressed that “an issue to which we are very sensitive is our Blue Homeland, our land homeland and our air homeland.” 

“Our red line is clear. We have the power to protect our rights and our interests in the Blue Homeland and within our borders, as well as our interests beyond our borders,” he added.

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