Photographer: Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP / Getty Images
Turkey and Greece will sit down to try to address the differences in maritime borders and offshore energy resources for the first time since 2016.
Diplomats from the two countries will meet in Istanbul on January 25 to begin “exploratory talks,” the Turkish and Greek foreign ministries said Monday. Greek officials have ruled out extending the scope of negotiations to other long-running disputes with Turkey.
Disputed waters
Concurrent claims on the Eastern Mediterranean
Sources: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Anadolu Agency; Greek media reports; Flanders Marine Institute
The announcement comes just weeks later The European Union has pledged to expand the number of Turkish officials sanctioned for energy exploration in the disputed waters of the eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus, Greece and France proposed a list of potential new targets this week.
“I believe that exploratory talks with Greece will herald a new era,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told ambassadors to European Union member states in Ankara on Tuesday. At the same time, Erdogan called on Greece to “avoid fueling tensions” in the eastern Mediterranean.
Ankara and Athens are stuck in a confrontation over conflicting interpretations of maritime borders. Competing claims of sovereignty over hydrocarbon-rich waters have led to a naval confrontation between Greece and Turkey in 2020.
Another The mouth of the relationship is Turkey’s continued control over northern Cyprus, which it confiscated in a coup attempt in which a military junta in Athens tried to unite the island with Greece.
Cyprus and Greece say Turkey’s maritime claims violate their sovereignty and have repeatedly called for the EU to impose drastic economic sanctions. Such demands have so far failed to gain the necessary unanimous support of EU member states, many of whom fear an escalation that would sever the bloc’s ties with Ankara.
The EU promises to extend the list of sanctions in Turkey in the measured warning
In recent months, Erdogan has reduced his rhetoric, mostly confrontational, to the bloc of 27 nations, saying his country wants a new chapter in its relations with the EU. His government has also ordered an energy exploration vessel to limit its activity to an area far from the Greek islands until June 15, after the ship’s operations annoyed Greece.
On Tuesday, Erdogan called on the EU to live up to its promises to Turkey, including updating their customs union and waiving visa requirements for Turkish citizens. He also called on the bloc to update a 2016 agreement by which Turkey prevented the flow of migrants to Europe in exchange for financial assistance.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, addressing EU ambassadors on Tuesday, said he and Greek Foreign Minister Nikolaos Dendias had agreed to meet following the exploratory talks in Istanbul.
But a Greek diplomat said there was no such agreement for a meeting between ministers.
Conflicts between Turkey and Greece: QuickTake
The weeks that go by up to negotiations will see some increased tensions. A senior diplomat from Brussels said Cyprus, Greece and France had this week put together a list of other Turkish officials they would like to be sanctioned for their country’s drilling operations off the coast of Cyprus.
The blacklist so far includes only two people and has no material consequences for Turkey’s economy. EU officials will start debating the additional lists proposed next week, although it is unclear whether the latest push will be better than previous attempts.
Meanwhile, the Greek government has presented two bills to parliament that could annoy Ankara.
The first seeks to ratify the expansion of the country’s western territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles out of six, which Greece also retains its right to do in the contested Aegean Sea. The second proposal is the purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets from France, after several months of military noise in the region. Both bills are expected to be voted on in the coming days.
– With the assistance of Paul Tugwell
(Updates with remark by the Greek diplomat in paragraph 11.)