‘If Greece wants to pay a price, let them come’: Erdogan
Perhaps pouring more petrol into the flaming spat with Greece, the Turkish president ruled out making any concessions to Athens on the oil and gas discoveries in the contentious Mediterranean waters.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan picked a rather symbolic occasion to make the claims. He was speaking at a ceremony to commemorate a military victory by Seljuk Turks over the Byzantine Empire at the town of Malazgirt in the 11th century.
Turkey will take “whatever it is entitled to in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas, we will not make any concessions,” Erdogan said on Wednesday.
The bulk of his fiery speech was devoted to Greece, which strongly objects to Turkey’s research drilling in the contested Mediterranean waters. Saying the modern-day Greeks are “unworthy of the Byzantine legacy,” Erdogan proceeded to veiled threats.