Erdoğan: Turkey to defend its rights in E. Med. to the full extent

Turkish President Erdoğan reiterated Saturday Turkey's determination to defend its rights in Eastern Mediterranean while addressing a large crowd of people in Yusufeli district of the northeastern province of Artvin.

Criticizing Western states' opposition to Turkey's move in the region, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "We will defend Turkey's rights in Eastern Mediterranean to the full extent despite Western threats."

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also has rights to the resources in the area.

Since spring this year, Ankara has sent two drilling vessels -- Fatih and most recently Yavuz -- to the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting the right of Turkey and the TRNC to the resources of the region.

Turkey's first seismic vessel, the Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa, bought from Norway in 2013, has been conducting exploration in the Mediterranean since April 2017.

Athens and Greek Cypriots have opposed the move, threatening to arrest the ships' crews and enlisting EU leaders to join their criticism.

In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus' annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.

The decades since then have seen several attempts to resolve the dispute, all ending in failure. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. -- ended in 2017 in Switzerland.