Turkish state considers the territories, which are located directly near the present-day borders of Turkey, to be its own, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly stated in his speech delivered at a university in Rize town, the Armenian Community of Georgia reports.
"Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Crimea, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, and other friendly regions enter the sphere of our interests... When Turkey will lose its independence and lose its future, then we will lose interest toward these territories," the Turkish president said.
According to him, many historians believe that Cyprus, Aleppo, Mosul, Irbil, Kirkuk, Batumi, Thessaloniki, Varna, Western Thrace and the Aegean islands should be included in the borders of Turkey.