ISTANBUL - Turkey sent its new hydrocarbons drilling ship to the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday but President Tayyip Erdogan said it would operate 55 kilometres (34.18 miles) off Turkey's coast, in an area outside waters also claimed by Cyprus.

Speaking at the launch ceremony in the southern province of Mersin, Erdogan said the area of operation was within Turkey's sovereign territory and that there was "no need for permission from anyone" for it to drill there.

  - Reuters