Turkey was already fighting against the U.S. and European states in the Caucasus, in northern Iraq and Syria, in the East Mediterranean and in the Aegean, in Western Thrace, and in the Balkans. The northern shores of the Black Sea are among these too, now. Western countries’ opposition to Turkey’s stance in the Ukraine War cannot be considered an ordinary development.
Most historians view the brothers as pirates and slave traders, yet Turkish schoolchildren are taught the brave exploits of Oruc Reis (Turkish for “chief”) and Barbarossa Hayrettin (“best of the faith”). Now, Mr Erdogan uses seismic research vessels named after them to signal his country’s desire to defend its maritime rights and challenge regional powers.
Devised by retired naval officer Cem Gürdeniz, it views the eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea – to be Turkey’s Blue Homeland. It first made headlines a year ago when Mr Erdogan gave a speech in front of a map laying out Turkish control over more than 460,000 square kilometres in those three seas.
Two weeks ago, the Turkish presidency marked the anniversary of that 1538 victory over Christian powers with a video re-enactment of Hayrettin battling Crusaders. “The blood of my ancestors flows through my veins,” the President’s communications head, Fahrettin Altun, said in a tweet releasing the video. “We die and take lives for the blue homeland.”
In late August, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO)’s FATIH drilling ship discovered a 320 billion cubic meters (bcm) i.e. 11 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, within the western part of Turkey’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The reserve — identified to be …
Turkey Finds Enormous Gas Field In The Black Sea But Tricky Process Ahead – Forbes Read More »
At the EU summit on Sept. 24-25, European leaders will decide whether or not to impose sanctions on Turkey. Most of them agree on confirming the existence of obnoxious Turkish policies, guided by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Syria and Libya, with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and not least in the Eastern Mediterranean, which …
Sanctions can persuade Turkey’s Erdogan to end reckless policies – Arab News Read More »
Observers fear a mistake or miscalculation could lead to military conflict between the Nato members As warships bristling with 21st century weapons systems prowled the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey’s president drew on a rather earlier era to underline his latest round of sabre-rattling towards Greece. Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose the anniversary of a battle that took …