CAIRO — Turkey announced Oct. 30 that it has started drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean. Speaking at a ceremony for the launch of the drilling ship, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez announced that Turkish naval forces would take all of the necessary steps should the vessel face any disruption.
This comes against the background of existing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean region between Turkey on the one hand and Egypt, Cyprus and Greece on the other.