President Erdoğan: We will stand by Lebanon and the Lebanese people with everything we have

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered reporters’ questions after performing Friday prayer at the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.

On the explosion in Beirut, President Erdoğan noted that there is no clear information as of now regarding the perpetrators of the incident. Stressing that Turkey is closely following the issue, President Erdoğan described the blast as a huge disaster and said that Turkey has delivered medical supplies to the country with a military cargo plane.

Underlining that Turkey cannot leave the brotherly Lebanon alone, President Erdoğan said: “We will stand by Lebanon, the Lebanese people and Beirut with everything we have, both materially and morally.” 

“THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GREECE AND EGYPT HAS NO VALUE”

Concerning the agreement recently signed between Greece and Egypt on the delimitation of so-called maritime jurisdiction areas, President Erdoğan underscored that the agreement has no value and added that Turkey determinedly continues to implement its agreement with Libya.

“GREECE DIDN’T HONOR ITS PROMISE”

“We don’t find it necessary to even talk with those who have no rights over maritime jurisdiction areas,” the President said. Recalling that Turkey had suspended its drilling activities in the Mediterranean upon the request of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany so as to give diplomacy time to work, President Erdoğan stated that Turkey, however, later on dispatched its vessel Barbaros Hayrettin to the area and immediately re-launched its drilling activities since Greece hadn’t honored its promise.