Greece and Turkey, two NATO members, will resume exploratory talks on January 25 to settle their dispute over hydrocarbon exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. .
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"The 61st round of exploratory talks will be held in Istanbul on January 25, 2021,"
the ministry said in a statement.
Talks have been halted since 2016. Earlier today, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had, at a press conference in Ankara, invited Greece to organize
“the first meeting in January”
.
His Greek counterpart said he had not received an official invitation from Ankara, but said he was ready to start talks on the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones.
In December, the leaders of the European Union, meeting in summit in Brussels, decided to sanction the
“illegal and aggressive”
actions
of Turkey in the Mediterranean against Greece and Cyprus.
The EU summit adopted individual sanctions believed to target names implicated in Turkey's exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean.
These gas exploration work carried out by Turkey in disputed maritime areas with Greece and Cyprus had been at the center of tensions for months.
The crisis between Athens and Ankara intensified with the deployment in August by Turkey of the seismic research vessel Oruç Reis in the disputed areas.
In an apparent gesture of appeasement, Ankara announced at the end of November the return to the port of Oruç Reis.
Several meetings with Europe
For several weeks, Turkish officials have been increasing calls for dialogue with Europeans to settle matters of tension, in particular the Greek-Turkish maritime dispute.
Mevlut Cavusoglu is expected to raise the maritime dispute with Greece during his meeting on Tuesday with the ambassadors of EU countries stationed in Ankara.
He is also due to travel to Brussels on January 21.
This trip will follow a telephone interview on Sunday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU wants a constructive relationship with Turkey on the basis of cooperation and wants to initiate the de-escalation of tensions with Ankara, assured the European Commission.
“Turkey wanted to turn a page in its relations with the EU, but President Erdogan noted that due to the whims of some member states and the artificial problems they create, this was not possible in 2020 »
, Declared the Turkish presidency in the report of the interview with Ursula von der Leyen published on Twitter.