Efforts to ‘usurp’ Turkish rights, Erdogan says

A day after Recep Tayyip Erdogan told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his country was pursuing a “constructive approach” on its problems with Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, the Turkish President on Saturday said foreign states, which he did not name, were trying to “usurp the rights” of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots.

“There have been efforts to usurp the rights of the Turkish nation and of Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Erdogan said.

“Turkey has not set its eye on the sea or the sovereignty of any country. It only aims to safeguard its territory and its rights,” he added.