Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country will begin as soon as possible explorations for gas in the eastern Mediterranean this year.
“We will start search and drilling activities as soon as possible in 2020 after issuing licences for the areas,” Erdogan announced during a two-hour speech in the Turkish capital.
Erdogan claimed that it is “no longer legally possible” for any search and drilling activities by other countries or a pipeline without Libya’s or Turkey’s approval.
Erdogan’s remarks came days before a key conference on Libya’s crisis in Berlin.