No one can deter Turkey from its path in the Eastern Mediterranean, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday.
"Our drilling ships are currently continuing on their course. There may be some noise regarding this from here and there. None of these can deter us from our path," Erdoğan said at Istanbul Airport before departing for a visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Turkey sent a second drilling vessel, Yavuz, to the east Mediterranean Sea that will begin hydrocarbon explorations off the coast of the Cyprus Island in early July.
Turkey already has a drilling ship, Fatih, working in the region. Fatih vessel is operating in waters west of Cyprus Island while Yavuz will operate in the east.
Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area and Ankara has the right to hydrocarbon drilling as well.
The Turkish-flagged drillship Fatih launched offshore drilling operations on May 3 this year in an area located 75 kilometers (42 nautical miles) off the western coast of Cyprus island. The area falls entirely within the Turkish continental shelf registered with the UN and under permit licenses the Turkish government in previous years granted to Turkish Petroleum Corporation, the country's national oil company.
Turkey wants to see energy as an incentive for a political resolution on the island and peace in the wider Mediterranean basin rather than a catalyst for further tensions.
"Balkans' peace, stability, tranquility and welfare are extremely important for us. Our country does have the luxury to monitor developments in this geography," Erdogan told reporters.
Erdoğan will attend the two-day South East European Countries Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit in the capital Sarajevo.
"Turkey, within the framework of the importance it attaches to the peace, stability and welfare in the Balkans, has effectively contributed to the SEECP, the only regional cooperation platform that encompasses all the countries in the Balkans, since its foundation," according to a presidential statement.
During his visit, Erdoğan will also hold bilateral meetings with members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidential Council and with other participating leaders.
He will also meet with Turkish soldiers -- deployed as part of the Turkish Military Representative to the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation ALTHEA, in Butmir.
On Tuesday, Erdogan will commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.
The Srebrenica genocide took place on July 11, 1995 and saw over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims massacred by Bosnian-Serb forces under President Slobodan Milosevic and General Ratko Mladic.
It is known to be the single worst act of mass killing since the end of the Second World War in 1945.
