Speaking to the members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the capital Ankara on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey favored resolving "on an equitable basis" the ongoing disputes over the Eastern Mediterranean's political and economic potential.
Accusing the EU of becoming an "ineffective" and "shallow," structure, he argued that the bloc was "enslaved" by two of its members, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration.
There are no crises in our region that were resolved with the EU's involvement, Erdoğan added.
"On the contrary, every crisis in which the union intervened has escalated with new dimensions," he said.
Tensions have been running high for weeks in the Eastern Mediterranean, as Greece has disputed Turkey's energy exploration.
Turkey -- the country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean -- sent out drillships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Ankara has repeatedly urged negotiations with no preconditions to reach a fair sharing of the region's resources.
