ANKARA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that his country will defend its right of hydrocarbon explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean and make "no concessions."
"Turkey has no intentions on anyone's land, sovereignty or interests, but it will not make concessions on its rights," the Turkish leader said at an event in Mus, eastern Turkey, according to semi-official Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan warned that "Turkey will take whatever belongs to it in the Mediterranean, as well as the Aegean and Black Sea" and is determined "to do whatever is necessary, politically, economically and militarily."
He urged its NATO ally Greece to avoid making missteps, which, he warned, "could lead to its destruction."
Greece and Turkey disagree fiercely over their overlapping claims of hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, based on conflicting views of how far their continental shelves extend.
Turkey has sent an exploratory vessel and navy ships to the disputed waters, leading to rising tensions in the ties between the two neighbors.
