Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Ankara was open to “constructive” talks but would remain determined in its eastern Mediterranean standoff with Greece.
President Erdogan made the comments in a video conference call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before an EU summit next week, at which the bloc will discuss imposing sanctions on Turkey over its search for energy in waters claimed by Cyprus and Greece.
Germany has taken the lead in trying to mediate an end to a conflict that has seen the two NATO neighbours stage rival air and sea drills in strategic waters between Cyprus and Crete.
Turkey says the EU unfairly backs Greece in a maritime dispute that stretches back decades, but which gained added importance with the discovery of large natural gas deposits in recent years.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday he was concerned by Turkey’s move to extend the operation of its Yavuz energy drillship in disputed Mediterranean waters.
“Turkey has a choice – engage with Europe in a constructive way or continue its unilateral actions and face consequences,” he said in an interview with the Economist.
The Turkish and Greek war games have drawn in EU powers and even the naval assets of the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
NATO is hosting periodic rounds of technical talks aimed at opening up channels of communication that could keep Greece and Turkey from going to war.
Cyprus, meanwhile, said it is ready to talk to Turkey to resolve differences but only “without blackmail and threats”, its president said on Wednesday.
“Nicosia has been always ready for a dialogue but for that … to be effective, it needs to be clearly defined based on international law, without blackmail or threats,” Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said after talks with European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits.
Credit: aljazeera
