(ANSA-AFP) - ANKARA, 01 SET - Turkey has extended until
mid-September its controversial natural gas exploration mission
in east Mediterranean waters claimed by Greece. Ankara deployed
the Oruc Reis research vessel and warships to the disputed
waters on August 10 and prolonged the mission twice, raising
tensions with Greece and the rest of the EU. The most recent of
the two extensions was until Tuesday. But in a message on
NAVTEX, the international maritime navigational telex system,
Turkey said late Monday the mission would now be extended until
September 12. Hours earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said in a televised speech that the Oruc Reis was
"continuing its activities with determination." "God willing, we
hope to get good news from the Mediterranean in a short span of
time, too, as we got in the Black Sea," Erdogan said. Erdogan
was referring to Turkey's discovery of what officials said were
320-billion-cubic-metres of natural gas in the Black Sea, the
biggest in Turkey's history. Ankara's relations with Athens have
deteriorated sharply, with strains over issues including
migration and Turkey's decision to convert Byzantine-era
churches into mosques. (ANSA-AFP).
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