Free Republic

Turkey will defend its sovereign rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday in Ankara’s latest warning against hydrocarbon exploration off the coast of Cyprus. “We have a duty to protect [our rights],” Erdogan told a meeting of party officials, adding that standing up for its rights has given Turkey its existing “political, economic and social stature.” “We have been able to achieve this not only by taking action against certain people at home but also by standing up to the world’s biggest economic and military powers,” Erdogan said. Asked about...