Turkey restarts drilling in E. Mediterranean as energy exploration dispute with Greece continues

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey has resumed drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean as Greece had not kept its promises regarding energy exploration in the region, Reuters reports. Erdogan was speaking to reporters after Friday prayers at the Hagia Sophia mosque.

NATO allies Turkey and Greece have long been at loggerheads over overlapping claims for hydrocarbon resources and tensions have flared up between them again.

In late July, Ankara said it could pause energy-exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a while, pending talks with Greece.