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FM says Turkey to send 4th drillship to eastern Mediterranean 

July 17, 2019 at 12:21 pm

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara, Turkey on 12 July 2019 [Fatih Aktaş/Anadolu Agency]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that his country intends to increase its activities in the eastern Mediterranean and will send a fourth oil drillship to the region.

Speaking at a press conference in North Macedonia, the Turkish minister warned that if the European Union takes any decision against Turkey, Ankara will increase activities there.

“We have three ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. We will send the fourth one as soon as possible. They should understand that they cannot cope with such methods with Turke,y” he added.

He stressed that Ankara will not allow anyone to deprive Turkish Cypriots of their rights.

In response to Ankara’s drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean, the European Council decided on Monday to suspend negotiations on the Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement and not to hold further meetings of the EU-Turkey high-level dialogues for the time being.

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