Last night, the Turkish president suddenly canceled the 39 pre-election speeches he had planned in Constantinople in view of the election for the municipality on June 23rd. The news surprised many in Turkey, as Erdogan had taken the entire election game on him. The ruling Justice and Development Party’s bid for victory in Constantinople is big and it may determine the future of the Turkish president.

President Erdogan has called for an extraordinary cabinet meeting which is expected to examine the move by the Republic of Cyprus to issue arrest warrants for the crews of the Turkish drilling ships that violated the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The news of the warrants has infuriated Ankara. According to the daily Kathimerini of Cyprus, Turkey and the illegal government of occupied northern Cyprus are considering retaliation measures aimed at damaging the Cypriot interests in the energy field.

Well-informed sources point out that the Turkish side is determined to respond in a similar way to the “Cyrpiot provocation” and one of these measures could be the issuing of warrants for crews of foreign companies operating on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus or limiting or even stopping the activities of foreign companies involved in the EEZ conflict on Turkish soil.