"Turkey has no designs on any other country's lands, sovereignty, or interests, but it will never make concessions on what rightfully belongs to it," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan at an event marking the 949th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt) in Mus, eastern Turkey.
Turkey urges everyone to avoid making missteps which could lead to their destruction, Erdogan added, speaking amid disputes with Greece on Turkey’s sovereign rights over maritime territory and energy resources.
Those unworthy of even the Byzantine heritage today commit injustices and piratical moves counting on the support of Europeans, which shows that they have failed to learn from history, Erdogan said.
The comments follow Turkey's major natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, and the ongoing conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean with Greece.
Erdogan announced on Friday that Turkey has found some 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves after its drill ship Fatih started work on July 20 off the Black Sea coast.
The ceremony Erdogan spoke at commemorated the Aug. 26, 1071 victory of Selcuk Sultan Alp Arslan on the plain of Manzikert – present-day Mus, eastern Turkey – accelerating the decline of the Byzantine Empire and leading to more Turks settling in the region, paving the way for both the Ottoman Empire and the modern Republic of Turkey.
