‘If you want to confront us, go ahead,’ says Erdoğan amid Eastern Mediterranean crisis

* Erdoğan was presented with a gift to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Photo: AA

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President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken at the ceremony marking the 949th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert in Turkey's eastern province of Muş.

Commenting on the escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially between Greece and Turkey, Erdoğan has said:

"If we say that we will do it, then we do it and pay its price. If there are those who want to confront us at the risk of paying a price, go ahead and do it. But if you do not want to do it, then do not stand in our way."

The statement of Erdoğan has come after Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas first visited Greece, then Turkey yesterday (August 25) to ease the tensions between the two neighboring countries.

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'Those unworthy of even Byzantine heritage...'

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), President Erdoğan has further said that "Turkey has no designs on anyone's lands, sovereignty, but will not make concessions on its rights."

"Turkey will take whatever belongs to it in the Mediterranean, as well as Aegean and the Black Sea," he has added.

"Turkey has no designs on any other country's lands, sovereignty, or interests, but it will never make concessions on what rightfully belongs to it," Erdoğan has reiterated and urged "everyone to avoid making missteps which could lead to their destruction," speaking amid disputes with Greece on maritime territory and energy resources.

"Those unworthy of even the Byzantine heritage today commit injustices and piratical moves counting on the support of Europeans, which shows that they have failed to learn from history," Erdoğan has said.

These comments have also followed Turkey's natural gas discovery in the Black Sea and ongoing conflict in Eastern Mediterranean with Greece. Erdoğan announced on August 21 that Turkey has found some 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves with its drill ship Fatih.

Efforts to ease tension in the Mediterranean

During his meeting with Heiko Maas seeking to mediate the Mediterranean dispute, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expressed "a willingness to engage in dialogue," but also objected to "the actions of Greece raising tensions in the region." Before Maas' visit, Turkey and later Greece sent out conflicting alerts on military exercises in the Mediterranean.

Turkey has been opposing Greece's efforts to declare an exclusive economic zone based on small islands near Turkey's shores.

Ankara has also said that energy resources near Cyprus must be shared fairly between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus.

(AS/SD)