Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a new gas exploration campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday, stating that it will take place in Turkey’s territorial waters, thus avoiding any controversy with Greece and Cyprus, AFP and Reuters report.

“The studies and drilling we carry out in the Mediterranean are within our sovereign territory. We do not need anyone’s permission or consent for this,” assured the head of the Turkish state, who celebrated the departure of the new offshore drilling vessel Abduhamid Han, in the port of Mersin (southern Turkey), for a two-month mission.

Erdogan specified the vessel’s destination: “Our vessel will move to the perimeter of the Yorukler 1 deposit, 55 kilometers off the Gazipasa port,” located 180 kilometers east of Antalya.

The previous drilling campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean – an area potentially rich in natural gas – in the summer of 2020 caused a series of incidents with Greece and, in October of the same year, with Cyprus.

Turkey then deployed seismic ships, escorted by military ships, a maneuver strongly condemned by the European Union, according to Agerpres.

“We looked for ways to respond to the problem of our dependence on external energy resources,” insisted Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Abdulhamid Han vessel “is the symbol of this new energy policy of Turkey: however, with our fourth drilling vessel and two seismic vessels, we entered the game,” he added.

Ankara says the Abdulhamid Han vessel, which is 238 meters long, is the largest and most technologically advanced deep-sea drilling vessel, capable of drilling to a depth of 12,000 meters.

Turkey is almost completely dependent on imports to cover its energy demand, Reuters notes.