Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared optimistic that the new floating drilling rig he dropped into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea will bring positive results, returning from Ukraine, where he held a tripartite meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky and UN Secretary General Guterres.
In his statements on the return plane to Turkish journalists he said:
"The fact that these support ships, named after these three brothers, are accompanying Abdulhamid Khan, is a fact that makes us happy. Hopefully, when the expected results start to come in, it will naturally make us much happier. This drilling rig is currently one of the few ships in existence in the world. It is capable of drilling up to 12 thousand meters. It is unmatched right now. It has such a characteristic, such a beauty. We hope there will be good news. Let's see….
Of course, some, especially the official opposition, are very uncomfortable with this. We named the ship Abdulhamid Khan. You saw who was annoyed by this. Think, he is in politics and he says he knows history very well. How does he know the story? He goes so far as to disrespect Abdulhamid Khan. When he speaks, he speaks as a conservative. One way or another, we will share them with our nation when we get the expected results with the Abdulhamit Khan floating drilling rig.”
New era with Israel – We will spoil the games of our neighbors
At the same time, the Turkish president also referred to the process of normalizing relations with Israel and the step to mutually appoint ambassadors.
Tayyip Erdoğan was asked if the relations with Israel and with Egypt are purely energy related in the eastern Mediterranean, but he replied that it is more a restoration of political relations.
“It would be more accurate to say that the (normalization) process is more politically oriented. It needs to be political. There is no room for discontent in politics. You must always be calm," said the Turkish president.
"For at any moment there may be an opportunity of meeting. For example, with Egypt, the relations at the highest level are not at the desired level, but now we continue at least at a lower level, that is, at the ministerial level, and then we hope to take a step at the top level.
Because the people of Egypt are our brothers. It is not possible to be unhappy with the Egyptian people. That is why we must establish peace with them as soon as possible. We must secure further steps with Syria. By taking these steps, I hope we will spoil a lot of games that are being played with our neighbors across the region, in this region of the Islamic world," he pointedly stated.