Despite the very strict warnings made by Washington, Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, and partly Moscow, the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is intensifying its provocative stance in the Eastern Mediterranean, as Turkish warships are escorting the drilling vessel “Fatih”, militarising the crisis.

The Turkish Navy released a statement giving clear orders to the warships dispatched to the heated region to respond with fire if any harassment was attempted.

“The rules of engagement will be applied in full to any attempt of harassment on our research vessel by our Navy and there will be no contact between the naval units and the headquarters”, the orders read.

Meanwhile, Turkey plans to dispatch a second drilling ship to the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said from Kyrgyzstan where he is visiting.

As he mentioned, seismic exploration has been completed and the time has come for drilling. Once again, he attacked the Republic of Cyprus, saying it was unilaterally drilling without respecting the rights of the Turkish Cypriots.

Foreign Minister of Greece George Katrougalos called on Ankara to seek solutions under international law, not to violate the sovereign rights of Cyprus and to refrain from further illegal actions.