New spikes Erdogan: Greece was disturbed by Abdulhamid Khan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues his strategy of tension, this time on the occasion of the floating Turkish drilling rig. The Turkish president, speaking today at the ceremony for the inauguration of 34 hydroelectric plants, referred to the new drilling rig he sent to the Mediterranean, Abdul Hamid Khan.

“What did we do yesterday, the day before yesterday? We diverted the drilling ship Abdulhamid Khan from (the port of) Tasuju in Mersina. But Greece was very disturbed. ‘Hey, what is this Erdogan doing?’ he said. Well, Erdogan is not doing anything. He is doing his work. And this ship is the first in the world. It is a drilling rig,” said the Turkish president.

“For years we couldn’t hire a ship with our money to drill. But now we have four drilling ships, we have two research ships. Now we are strong, we are strong!” he added.

#BREAKING Turkish President Erdogan says Greece is ‘uneasy’ after Turkey sends new drill ship to eastern Mediterranean pic.twitter.com/CTpY8iXLCQ

— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) August 11, 2022

Domez: In 45 – 60 days the drilling will be completed

“After a two-year break, we started our activities in the Mediterranean yesterday,” Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Domez said, expressing hope that in 45-60 days, the Abdul Hamid Khan drilling rig at Yorekler 1 will be completed. For the Akkuyu nuclear power plant , the Turkish Minister, according to the KYPE, expressed the hope that the problem that presented itself will be overcome soon and that there will be no delay in the program.

In an interview with the Anadolu news agency, the Turkish Minister said that there were 4-5 alternative drilling sites in the eastern Mediterranean, however a decision was made on the Yorukler 1 site. “Now we have about 45-60 days ahead of us. Hopefully we will complete our drilling within this period. If we finally have a discovery, first by Allah we will share the good news with our nation,” the Turkish Minister said.

On a live link in the middle of the interview, official Abdulhamid Khan stated that they arrived at the Yörükler 1 site at 3:30 in the morning of August 10. “Our journey was smooth and uneventful. We are lowering our equipment to the seabed to be placed in the center of the drilling. We are making the necessary preparations for the drilling and carrying out the final checks. When all the preparations are complete, we will start drilling and , if Allah wills, we will work to give good news to our people,” he said.

The Turkish Minister of Energy also said that Turkey is now as familiar with the Mediterranean as it is with the Black Sea. “You know, we had taken a break from our drilling there for 2 years, we drove our fleet mainly to the Black Sea, because there our program was very heavy. Now, as of yesterday, we have resumed our activities in the Mediterranean,” he said.

Regarding the problem presented in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Minister said that “in the last 2-3 years the progress in the area has been quite good. However, in the last 1 month there has been a conflict between the Russian and Turkish companies that make up the consortium which is the biggest contractor”.

“The issue was reported to us from the beginning of July. We immediately made some efforts to get together with both sides to come to an agreement quickly, to solve the problems between them, to resolve the conflicts. Of course, in such very large projects there may be times conflicts and problems in the area, administrative, economic that is. Unfortunately, these problems have not been overcome. We are still continuing our efforts. This issue was also raised in the last meeting of our President with Mr. Putin in Sochi. Because you know, and the these two leaders have a commitment in their public opinion to complete this project in 2023. What are our priorities here? We cannot allow any delay in the project schedule. I am talking about 2023, the first reactor,” he said.

Source: TheToc.gr