The announcements were made. The Abdul Hamid Khan will head "to the Yörükler-1 field, 55 kilometers off Gazi Pasha" was the order given by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the captain of Turkey's fourth floating drillship. In an undefined area, as there would have to be an agreement with the Republic of Cyprus to comply with the letter of international law, but in waters within Turkey's jurisdictional boundaries.
The announcement of this option after more than a month of propaganda about where the drilling rig will go and what messages it will send has caused disappointment among "Blue Homeland" theorists such as the retired Vice Admiral. Jihad Yayiji, who were quick to react.
"What we feared has happened."
Indicative of this is a post by the think tank that Yayiji directs, Türk Denizcilik ve Global Stratejiler Merkezi, (Turkish Center for Maritime and Global Strategy), which notes that: "Our fears have come true! The first service station of the drilling vessel Abdul Hamid Khan is the Yörükler-1 well, 55 km off Gazi Pasha. That is, within the Seville map, which traps us inside the Gulf of Antalya... We don't know what to say."
Reactions focusing on why instead of Erdogan moving with the compass of creating new fait accompli to enforce the Blue Homeland, he did exactly the opposite by staying within the limits they are trying to "impose" on him on the basis of the "Seville map". Something that Erdogan's own government has repeatedly made it clear that it does not accept, contrasting the maps of the Blue Homeland that it has adopted as official policy. And it has also unilaterally submitted to the UN, claiming that these are the boundaries within which the Turkish continental shelf extends, without any prior agreement with neighbouring countries.
Moreover, in a series of interviews given before the announcement of the drilling vessel's destination, Jihad Yaikiji particularly stressed the need for the drilling vessel to move not between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey but on the boundary of the illegal Turkish-Cypriot memorandum, calling on Ankara to show its determination at a moment which he described as "appropriate".
Noise and position on the map
Yet Erdogan appeared to be measuring his moves more than some inside Turkey would like. Even though he used them and continues to use them.
The Turkish president knows the bargaining as well as the diplomatic game and has shown that he can combine the two.
His goal was theoretically achieved after causing disproportionate noise in Athens and Ankara, with the media for days turning their attention to the drilling ship and the scenarios that will follow, with Turkey considering itself a "winner."
We will not stop here
"Our ship will not stop when it finishes drilling here. It will move on to other wells. That way, we'll keep looking until we find it. The exploration and drilling activities we conduct in the Mediterranean are in our own sovereign areas. We do not need anyone's permission or consent to do so. When the Abdülhamid Han ship starts its operations, there will probably be some people who will try to dominate us based on the big brothers behind them. As long as we do not take them seriously and do not see them as equals and interlocutors, those who increase their arrogance will one day end up banging their heads against the wall and come to their senses. Neither the puppets nor those who hold the strings in their hands will be able to prevent us from getting what we are entitled to in the Mediterranean," Erdogan said, also looking towards Athens.
"Our principle is neither to eat our rights nor to covet anyone else's rights," the Turkish president continued, noting that "the vision of a great and strong Turkey is so comprehensive and complete that we have no time to deal with the illusions of those who sleep every day in fear of our flag."
Those who march with us win, those who march against us lose
He reiterated both at home and abroad that Turkey is minding its own business and will continue to do so. "We are ready to work and move forward together with anyone who will support our efforts. Let me remind those who try to disregard the rights we enjoy under international law by talking out of bounds and proposing contrived maps that they are trying to bite off more than they can chew. We have not and will not hesitate to fight tooth and nail when necessary to protect our rights. We only have to look at recent developments to see that friendship and alliance with Turkey is far more valuable, far more profitable and far more right than taking a stand against Turkey."
"To put it in a nutshell, those who walk the road with us win and those who walk the road against us lose."
"To put it in a nutshell, those who walk the road with us win and those who walk the road against us lose. With these sentiments, we wish the drillship Abdul Hamid Khan a safe journey and efficient drilling. We wish good luck to our ship's personnel," Erdogan concluded. Sending his own messages both at home and abroad.
Messages
Clearly showing that this is the beginning. That drilling will potentially go beyond the limits accepted by the international community and signalling that an alliance with Turkey is more valuable than choosing to be on the opposing side. Therefore, Abdul Hamid Khan's first trip can also be seen as a "test" in the context of acceptable limits in the shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Source: in.gr
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