Turkey’s announced deployment of drill ship in Eastern Mediterranean raises concerns

Turkey will deploy its large, newly constructed drill ship “Abdulhamid Han” in the Eastern Mediterranean on 9 August, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported today.

“#URGENT Türkiye’s Abdulhamid Han drill ship to start mission in Mediterranean, will leave Mersin port on Aug. 9, says energy minister,” AA tweeted at 21:23 this evening.

Ankara had previously announced the ship would be deployed in the area in the first half of August.

The recent statements of Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay linking the deployment of the ship to Ankara’s “Blue Homeland”, theory – that claims large swathes of the Exclusive Economic Zones [maritime jurisdiction] of Greece and Cyprus for Turkey – evokes memories of the protracted 2020 Greek-Turkish standoff in the Eastern Mediterranean, when a military clash was averted through US and German intervention.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos in recent statements indicated that they do not expect a repeat of the events of 2020, but Oktay’s remarks raise serious questions about Ankara’s intentions.

Oktay intimated that Ankara is preparing for a future standoff.

“Our unmanned submarines will bolster our sovereignty in the Blue Homeland, will shift balances, and will upset games,” Oktay said.

“Hydrocarbons resources are not a game of the Greeks,” he declared.

Oktay touted the force of the Turkish Navy in connection with Ankara’s expansionist theory and asserted that Turkey is one of ten countries that construct their own war ships.