Mevlut Cavusoglu admitted that Ankara’s real goal in the Eastern Mediterranean is to get a significant share of the resources that will come from natural gas production. The Turkish Foreign Minister, in an interview with the Turkish Haber Global TV channel, said that “the solution to the problem of the Eastern Mediterranean actually depends on the distribution of income in Cyprus. So that’s about 50% of the problem. The issue is a fair distribution of income.

Mr. Cavusoglu stated that Turkey’s continental shelf extends to and within block 6 of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone, but emphasized that “the point where drilling is being carried out is further south than the southern limit of our continental shelf. We no longer allow them on our continental shelf.”

Ankara seems to subscribe to the theory of the Turkish continental shelf, which it claims extends 6 miles from the Greek islands: “The southern and western limits of our continental shelf are clear. To the west we left the Greek islands and territorial waters 6 miles away. We work in accordance with international law. And within our continental shelf, we continue drilling and seismic exploration,” Mr. Tsavusoglu said.

Ankara, with the Abdul Hamit Khan drilling rig, will continue drilling in areas that it claims to extend its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean, the foreign minister of the neighboring country said, adding that “there are also areas for which a license has been obtained . to us through “TRDBK”. We have done work there in the past and it will continue to be done in the future.”

Cavusoglu says natural gas could be the “key” to solving the Eastern Mediterranean problem while also challenging territorial waters.

Mr. Cavusoglu accused Greece of “black propaganda” against Turkey and “constantly supports the lobby against the delivery of F-16s”, while reiterating claims that Greece is violating the demilitarized status of islands in the Aegean. .

On the issue of upgrading the F-16 and purchasing new F-16 Viper fighters, the Turkish Foreign Minister expressed Ankara’s dissatisfaction with the conditions that members of Congress are trying to impose, and clarified that “the (US) government knows that we will not get the F-16 or any different product if we are handcuffed. If we need to take something, we will take it to use. Why buy a system we can’t use? And we expect that the government, with its positive attitude towards the F-16, will convince Congress as well.”

Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again expressed concern about the US and EU support for Greece. In his speech at the graduation ceremony of the Coast Guard School cadets, the President of Turkey stated that “no one criticizes the fact that there are 10-15 US bases in Greece. Nobody criticizes that the West is gathering forces in Greece.”