Erdoğan urges Russia, Ukraine to resolve dispute through dialogue

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday to resolve their dispute in the Black Sea through dialogue.

“We’re living in a time where the world is in the clutches of serious threats. We’d be pleased to see Russia and Ukraine side by side as opposed to being on opposite sides,” Erdoğan said while addressing his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s parliamentarian bloc.

"We want Black Sea to become a peace sea," he added.

Erdoğan expressed Turkey's desire to see Russia and Ukraine cooperate amid serious threats in the world.

Russia on Sunday seized three Ukrainian naval ships off Russian-held Crimea in the Sea of Azov.

The Ukrainian Navy accused Russia of opening fire on its warships, adding that its crew members were wounded and its vessels seized by Russia.

Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea after a controversial referendum.

Turkey, as well as the UN General Assembly, say the annexation was illegal.

Regarding developments in Syria, Erdoğan said Turkey was the country that “burst the Daesh bubble” through Operation Euphrates Shield.

“Everyone seeks their interest in Syria under the pretext of anti-Daesh fight, but we took all the risks, entered and struck them down.”

"There is no Daesh in Syria but some small gangs trained, equipped to create chaos in the country and the region under the disguise of Daesh," he continued, vowing to fully eliminate remnants of the terror group "in a couple of months."

In the wide-ranging Euphrates Shield Operation launched in August 2016, the Free Syrian Army -- with the support of the Turkish army -- had cleared 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements.

Erdoğan said that Turkey is the one that started to overthrow Deash terror group, "which is one of the greatest concerns of Islam."

"While everyone sought their interest on Syrian soil using Daesh as an excuse, we took all the risks, entered the field and struck this terror group down hard," said the president.

There is no Daesh in Syria but some small gangs are trained and equipped to create chaos in the country and region under disguise of Daesh, Erdoğan said.

More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh terror attacks in Turkey, where the terror group targets civilians in suicide bomb, rocket and gun attacks.

Turkey is determined to use its rights based on international law on disputes over Aegean Sea and Cyprus, Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan said on the Mediterranean issue that reckless behavior of Greece and Southern Cyprus, with backing of some European states, would threaten them foremost.

"Turkey is determined to use its rights arising from international law in full on disputes over Aegean Sea, Cyprus issue," said Erdoğan.

He added: "Turkey will never compromise its interests, neither in Eastern Mediterranean nor in other regions."

He said Ankara will not allow irrelevant countries to gain economic and political dominance in eastern Mediterranean.

On Monday, Turkey started preparatory works for shallow water drilling in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Mersin in southern Turkey.

On Oct. 30, Turkey's first drilling vessel, Fatih, conducted its first deep drilling in offshore Antalya on the county's southern Mediterranean coast.

Erdoğan also announced 20 more mayoral candidates for local elections at his party's parliamentary group meeting.

Among AK Party's nominees are Mehmet Özhaseki, the ruling party's deputy chairman, and former economy minister Nihat Zeybekçi, who will run for the Ankara and İzmir mayorships rsepectively in the upcoming March 2019 local elections.

The candidates for Afyonkarahisar, Balıkesir, Bingöl, Çanakkale, Cankiri, Çorum, Eskişehir, Hatay, Karaman, Konya, Mardin, Mus, Sakarya, Sivas, Tokat, Trabzon, Usak and Yozgat provinces were also announced.

The candidate for Istanbul was not revealed on Tuesday; however, Parliament Speaker Binali Yıldırım is the top contender for the spot.

On Saturday, Erdoğan announced the list of 40 mayoral candidates including 14 metropolitan municipalities and 26 provincial municipalities.

The local elections in Turkey are scheduled on March 31, 2019.