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TURKEY TO DEFEND ITS SEA INTERESTS, SAYS PM
İPek Yezdani
Hurriyet
Sept 27 2011
Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (L), President Gul (R) and Chief of
General Staff Ozel (back R) inspect a new Turkish warship.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would take all
necessary measures to defend its rights over natural resources in the
sea during a ceremony to launch Turkey's first domestic warship. The
Turkish research ship Piri Reis meanwhile entered block 13 off Cyprus
where Greek Cypriots are continuing natural gas exploration with
U.S. company Noble, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources confirmed.
Amid rising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's first
domestically made warship was formally delivered to the Turkish Navy.
"Turkey's interests in the seas reach from surrounding waters out to
Suez Canal and Indian Ocean," Erdogan said adding that Turkey would
take all the necessary measures to defend its commercial interests and
its rights over the natural resources in the sea. "We have sent the
Piri Reis [a Turkish exploration vessel] to the eastern Mediterranean
for research activities. We will continue to bring into action
anything that our national interests requires without any hesitation,"
Erdogan said, during the ceremony on Tuesday as the TCG Heybeliada,
was launched in Istanbul's Pendik Navy Yard. As Erdogan continued
his harsh rhetoric over the gas drilling operation of Greek Cyprus,
the Turkish research ship Piri Reis entered block 13 off Cyprus where
Greek Cypriots are continuing natural gas exploration with U.S.
company Noble, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources confirmed. Sources
added that the Piri Reis was only 60 kilometers away from the Greek
Cypriot drilling platform. Erdogan has already said the Turkish ship
will be escorted by the Turkish Navy; the Turkish frigate Yavuz set
sail from its Turkish Mediterannean base two days ago to escort and
conduct patrolling duties.
Despite Erdogan's words, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said tensions
were decreasing in the eastern Mediterranean. "After Greek Prime
Minister George Papandreou called Prime Minister Erdogan [Monday]
and they talked on the phone for one hour, the tension decreased
and things began returning to normal in the eastern Mediterranean,"
Yılmaz told the Hurriyet Daily News. President Abullah Gul said
Turkey was now building its own warships with its own engineers,
workers and technicians, which in the past it had to buy from other
countries and proud of this fact. "Even the countries whose national
income is way behind ours have decided to make nuclear weapons because
their rivals have done so," Gul said. Gul also said "Nobody wants war,
war is the worst case scenario, but if you want to maintain peace
and stability you also have to be ready for war."
İPek Yezdani
Hurriyet
Sept 27 2011
Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (L), President Gul (R) and Chief of
General Staff Ozel (back R) inspect a new Turkish warship.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would take all
necessary measures to defend its rights over natural resources in the
sea during a ceremony to launch Turkey's first domestic warship. The
Turkish research ship Piri Reis meanwhile entered block 13 off Cyprus
where Greek Cypriots are continuing natural gas exploration with
U.S. company Noble, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources confirmed.
Amid rising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's first
domestically made warship was formally delivered to the Turkish Navy.
"Turkey's interests in the seas reach from surrounding waters out to
Suez Canal and Indian Ocean," Erdogan said adding that Turkey would
take all the necessary measures to defend its commercial interests and
its rights over the natural resources in the sea. "We have sent the
Piri Reis [a Turkish exploration vessel] to the eastern Mediterranean
for research activities. We will continue to bring into action
anything that our national interests requires without any hesitation,"
Erdogan said, during the ceremony on Tuesday as the TCG Heybeliada,
was launched in Istanbul's Pendik Navy Yard. As Erdogan continued
his harsh rhetoric over the gas drilling operation of Greek Cyprus,
the Turkish research ship Piri Reis entered block 13 off Cyprus where
Greek Cypriots are continuing natural gas exploration with U.S.
company Noble, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources confirmed. Sources
added that the Piri Reis was only 60 kilometers away from the Greek
Cypriot drilling platform. Erdogan has already said the Turkish ship
will be escorted by the Turkish Navy; the Turkish frigate Yavuz set
sail from its Turkish Mediterannean base two days ago to escort and
conduct patrolling duties.
Despite Erdogan's words, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said tensions
were decreasing in the eastern Mediterranean. "After Greek Prime
Minister George Papandreou called Prime Minister Erdogan [Monday]
and they talked on the phone for one hour, the tension decreased
and things began returning to normal in the eastern Mediterranean,"
Yılmaz told the Hurriyet Daily News. President Abullah Gul said
Turkey was now building its own warships with its own engineers,
workers and technicians, which in the past it had to buy from other
countries and proud of this fact. "Even the countries whose national
income is way behind ours have decided to make nuclear weapons because
their rivals have done so," Gul said. Gul also said "Nobody wants war,
war is the worst case scenario, but if you want to maintain peace
and stability you also have to be ready for war."