Earlier this year, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and others formed a gas forum to jointly develop the infrastructure needed to push forward the energy exploration. The bloc has, however, excluded Turkey, which has not made any gas discoveries in waters of its own yet.

Speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, a Turkish government source close to the matter said that Turkey is closely watching the rapprochement of the forum countries and how they are getting closer at the political and economic levels.

In the past years, Turkey's ties with key Mediterranean nations such as Israel and Egypt have deteriorated over political issues.

"We are adamant to defend our rights and will do everything within the international law and regulations to enforce them," added the source, implying that a short-term solution to the dispute is unlikely.

Meanwhile, observers think that Ankara should try to reconcile with Egypt and Israel in order to break its diplomatic isolation in this region and strengthen its hydrocarbon explorations.

"We want friendly relations with all Mediterranean countries and we want it to be a sea of peace, but we also need to protect our rights," the Turkish official said.

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