Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned that his country will neutralize any threat that may appear in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a new submarine in the coastal region of Marmara, Yildirim warned that some powers which he did not name were trying to take advantage of the fact that Turkey is engaged in a war in Syria.
“While Turkey is fighting terrorism at the domestic and international level, some want to benefit from the situation by devising various plans and traps in the Aegean and Mediterranean,” he said.
“Let me be clear. Whatever the situation may be, Turkey and its Navy have the ability to neutralize any kind of threat,” he said.
“Let no one be mistaken in their evaluations,” Yildirim warned.
Turkey has intensified its rhetoric against Greece, challenging the sovereignty of the Imia islets in the eastern Aegean and disputing Cyprus’ drilling rights off the island.
Cyprus threat
Turkish officials have been saying that Greek Cypriots will not be allowed to conduct unilateral gas exploration in the region.
On Sunday, a Turkish Cypriot official said that there should be co-management of the island’s natural reserves right now or Greek Cypriot energy plans should be frozen until a Cyprus settlement is reached.
In an interview with Cypriot paper Phileleftheros, Ozdil Nami, the Turkish Cypriot energy minister, made it clear that Turkey was in a position to block planed drilling in all areas of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and did not rule that out.