Turkey will not accept fabricated maps in east Med: Erdoğan

Turkey will not accept fabricated maps in the eastern Mediterranean and it will take measures to prevent the establishment of terror corridors in its southern borders, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, suggesting that even the West has started to admit that its superior position in the international arena has come to an end.

"We are not hesitating to protect our interests. What we are against is the double standard that is imposed on us by the use of international law as an excuse. Aren't we going to protect our rights in the eastern Mediterranean? Are we going to accept fabricated maps?" Erdoğan said in an interview with the magazine Kriter on Oct 5.

Erdoğan referred to a map prepared by Seville University that pledges almost the entire eastern Mediterranean to Greece while limiting the Turkish continental shelf to the Antalya Bay. The EU had said the map, dubbed Seville Map, is not presenting the EU's official position concerning the problem in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turley is respectful to international law but will not accept any double standard, Erdoğan stated. His statement comes at a time when a new escalation in the region seems to be emerging as a research ship was deployed to the Turkish continental shelf by the Greek Cyprus administration. The Turkish navy pushed the ship back over the weekend.

Citing the YPG's activities in northern Syria as an effort to establish a terror corridor, Erdoğan said, "Are we going to watch and do nothing against the terror corridor next to us? Surely, it's not possible for us to remain idle. We have done whatever is necessary within the frame of international law and will not hesitate to do it."

Erdoğan referred to the Turkish military's cross-border...