Turkey will not accept fabricated maps in east Med: Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkey will not accept fabricated maps in the eastern Mediterranean and it will take measures to prevent the establishment of terror corridors in its southern borders, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, suggesting that even the West has started to admit that its superior position in the international arena has come to an end.

“We are not hesitating to protect our interests. What we are against is the double standard that is imposed on us by the use of international law as an excuse. Aren’t we going to protect our rights in the eastern Mediterranean? Are we going to accept fabricated maps?” Erdoğan said in an interview with the magazine Kriter on Oct 5.

Erdoğan referred to a map prepared by Seville University that pledges almost the entire eastern Mediterranean to Greece while limiting the Turkish continental shelf to the Antalya Bay. The EU had said the map, dubbed Seville Map, is not presenting the EU’s official position concerning the problem in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turley is respectful to international law but will not accept any double standard, Erdoğan stated. His statement comes at a time when a new escalation in the region seems to be emerging as a research ship was deployed to the Turkish continental shelf by the Greek Cyprus administration. The Turkish navy pushed the ship back over the weekend.

Citing the YPG’s activities in northern Syria as an effort to establish a terror corridor, Erdoğan said, “Are we going to watch and do nothing against the terror corridor next to us? Surely, it’s not possible for us to remain idle. We have done whatever is necessary within the frame of international law and will not hesitate to do it.”

Erdoğan referred to the Turkish military’s cross-border operations in late 2019 to stop the YPG’s deployment on the Turkish border with Syria. The YPG is currently an efficient partner of the United States in the fight against ISIL despite Turkey’s continuous criticisms.

West is no longer superior

On global politics and order, Erdoğan reiterated his criticisms about the composition of the U.N. Security Council as he outlined his views in his recently published book “A fairer world is possible.”

“When it comes to global politics, there is a different picture. We have come to the conclusion that the troublemaker understanding that ‘West is superior’ comes to an end. Everyone is questioning this and admits this. Even the West itself has begun to accept this,” he stated.

The world is passing through a crisis and the pandemic has just deepened it, Erdoğan said, the failure of bringing about a new global order will just make things worst in the future.

“Global governance mechanisms are inoperative. A governance problem risen. Justice has been trampled on,” he stated, vowing that Turkey has to respond to this global crisis.

Many medium power countries, including Turkey, are strengthening their global profile and the world is no longer a place where only the big powers dictate everything, Erdoğan said, adding, “Look at Turkey, where did we come from! We have turned into a power that can carry out its own military operations with its own means and build its own defense industry architecture. Hopefully, this line will rise even higher, reinforce the point it has come from and make another leap.”