Erdogan: Turkey's position on east Med won't change

Highlighting Ankara's decisive position on the eastern Mediterranean issue, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country will not step back from it.

Speaking at a joint news conference with members of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the capital Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey is in a decision-making position in the eastern Mediterranean and its determined position remains the same.

No compromise is possible for Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean, he said.

Erdogan criticised a recent joint drill between Saudi Arabia and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean.

"But on the other hand, right now there is a request from Saudi Arabia for armed UAVs from Turkey. Those are the latest developments," he said, without elaborating.

Responding to a question on diplomatic contacts between Ankara and Cairo, Erdogan said Egyptian people do not contradict Turkey.

Turkey will send 30,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Turkish president said, and added that the country aims to expand the trade volume with Sarajevo to $1 billion as soon as possible.

READ MORE: Turkey, Greece meet to discuss east Mediterranean and energy rights

TurkStream pipeline

For his part, head of Bosnia's Presidential Council Milorad Dodik said they are interested in the TurkStream pipeline.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, ties between the two countries grew, he stressed, pointing to the deals signed between Ankara and Sarajevo.

The 930-km (578-mile) TurkStream pipeline will carry Russian gas under the Black Sea through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, with another section reaching Turkey.

The project is the biggest-diameter offshore gas pipeline in the world laid at such depths with a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year.

READ MORE: Erdogan and Putin inaugurate TurkStream pipeline