Being a guest of the program “Nedir Ne Değildir” on Habertürk TV, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Çavuşoğlu answered the questions of the journalists about UN and Eastern Mediterranean.
Stating that Oruç Reis is in a maintenance of 6-month, Çavuşoğlu made the following assessment according to the statements and the information given by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources:
“As far as I know, Oruç Reis is in a maintenance of 6-month. We make statements on this subject according to the information provided by the statements of our Ministry of Energy. The findings are examined in detail at the end of the searches, then if there is a possibility of hydrocarbon, gas or oil, at this point, then the drill ship goes there. Finally, we have found a strong reserve in the Black Sea, hopefully it will continue. Internal policy and foreign policy are intertwined. It is also the same in this world, it is inevitable. Any development in the outside world affect Turkey. We showed the whole world what we can do on our own continental shelf and that nothing can be done despite us. The whole world has seen it. “
“The European Union has no authority over maritime jurisdictions.”
Çavuşoğlu stated that the EU Court of Justice ruled that the EU does not have any authority on this issue, especially in the Slovenia-Croatia maritime jurisdiction debate, “There is no such situation in the agreement between Greece and Italy, France and England, Libya and other Mediterranean countries, Ukraine and Romania. Greece is in a maximalist approach. The EU Court of Justice has ruled that especially in the Slovenia-Croatia maritime jurisdiction debate, the EU does not have any authority on this issue.
Referring those statements which are “Greece states that this Court of Justice recognizes the jurisdiction but has made annotations on three issues; continental shelf, airspace, status of demilitarized islands.”, Çavuşoğlu made these evaluations:
“Why did you put an annotation on them? Greece says international law. They tell lies saying, ‘Turkey is in violation of our sovereignty’. Greece declares 10 miles of airspace above 6 miles of territorial waters. There is no such situation in the world. This is what Greece calls international law. They see their fictitious claims in accordance with international law. When Greece is said that this is wrong, they interpret it as contrary to international law. International law is not interpreted as arbitrary. Greece says “These are not Turks, but Muslims” in Western Thrace. On the other hand, there is a human rights court. We say that the islands are disarmed in Lausanne. They say there is a threat. If you are talking about international law, first of all, you have to be principled.”
