Turkey will not make ‘slightest compromise’ on energy plans, VP says
Turkey is not prepared to make the “slightest compromise” with regards to its energy plans around Cyprus, the Aegean or the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay has said.
Speaking to parliament during a 2019 budget debate on Tuesday, Oktay said that Greece and Cyprus have been “spoiled” by the European Union and that Ankara will “by no means” tolerate any “measures against our country,” according to Turkish daily Hurriyet.
“With our determination and our diplomatic efforts, we project our power and our energy policy,” the Turkish vice president said.
Oktay also lashed out against the United States, which has rapped Turkey for its increasingly aggressive stance in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, calling on Washington to act “according to the spirit of the alliance in every single area.”
“We also want to see an America that respects Turkey’s fight against terrorist organizations,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Oktay as saying, in reference to requests from Ankara for the extradition of self-exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding the failed coup attempt in 2016.
