Turkish drill ship gets to work on Turkey’s continental shelf

The new Turkish drilling rig “Abdul Hamid Khan” is “getting to work” today on the edge of the Gulf of Antalya, inside the Turkish continental shelf and specifically in the Yorukler-1 field, .

This is one of the moderate scenarios that Athens was considering, “disappointing” those who believed that Turkey would aim at the “heart” of its contrived “Blue Homeland” doctrine that violates Law of the Sea provisions.

Some, of course, are still wary, given Turkey’s aggressive rhetoric in recent days.

Specifically, yesterday Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the deployment of the floating drilling rig in an area 29 nautical miles (about 55 kilometers) from Gazipasa.

Reactions within Turkey

The initiator and theoretician of the “Blue Homeland” Cihat Yaycı, directly hammered on the decision of Erdoğan for “Abdul Hamid Han” to drill inside the Turkish continental shelf.

“Our fears have come true! Drilling rig Abdul Hamid Han’s first duty station is the Yörükler-1 well, 55 kilometers offshore Gazipasa. That is, within the map of Seville, which traps us in the Gulf of Antalya… We don’t know what to say” was the first comment posted on the official account of the “Turkish Center for Maritime and Global Strategy”, a think tank headed by Yaycı.

Yavyci had recently proposed the isolation and blockade of Mytilini, Samos and Kastelorizo in order to put pressure on Greece for the demilitarization of the Aegean islands, although he has not directly positioned himself on the developments, despite all that he publicly commented on in his posts ” Turkish Center for Maritime and Global Strategy”, perfectly represent his positions and thoughts.

All the fuss and the ships location

However, Erdogan appeared to be more measured in his moves than some inside Turkey would like. Even if he used these people and still uses them.

The Turkish president knows how to haggle as well as how to play the diplomatic game well and has proven that he can combine both.

His goal was theoretically achieved, after it caused a disproportionate fuss in Athens and Ankara, with the media focusing for several days on the drilling rig and the scenarios that will follow, with Turkey considering it had “won”.

Persistent claims

“There is the issue of Kastelorizo. This island, Kastelorizo, is 580 kilometers from mainland Greece. While it is only 1,950 meters away from us,” said Turkey’s defense minister Hulusi Akar indicatively, repeating the new Turkish theory which links sovereignty to the… distance from the mainland.

“It is within swimming distance of the students of our military schools. The other day a Greek minister said, “if they wish, let them come, if they can swim”, and we replied, “if God wills, one day this can happen too”. Mr. Akar again referred to demilitarization of Greek islands based on the Treaty of Lausanne and the Treaty of Paris and reiterated that Ankara is ready for talks.