Turkish authorities held an official departure ceremony for the Yavuz drillship on Thursday, which is scheduled to sail towards Cyprus.
The ceremony took place at 12 noon, in the presence of Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, which was the second ship launched, after the first one Fetih has already begun operations.

Anlık kendim çektim, Yavuz Sondaj Gemimiz. Yarın yola çıkıyormuş, Allah muvaffak etsin…???? pic.twitter.com/ENmCyNKLX1

— cttslar (@cttslar) June 19, 2019

Donmez said that the Yavuz, early July, will start drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, in an area that the northern Cypriot pseudo-state issued a drilling permit to the Turkish Petroleum Industry Association.
“Yavuz is ready to present the underground resources to our nation,” the Turkish Energy Minister wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday night.

EU Summit in Brussels

Meanwhile, European leaders Thursday will discuss the illegal actions by Ankara in the Cypriot EEZ and the measures proposed a few days ago by the General Affairs Council at the EU Brussels Summit.

Nicosia and Athens will be tabling a joint agenda at the Summit where the EU will consider its stance and possible actions against Turkey.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will seek the immediate adoption of measures against Turkey. Diplomatic sources say that leaders are expected to ratify the decision of the General Affairs Council to extend the suspension of accession negotiations and to “freeze” the discussions on updating the customs union.