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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call on Tuesday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that Ankara hopes Paris will take a wise and constructive approach as tension in the eastern Mediterranean continues to subside.
The Turkish presidency said in a statement after the call that Erdogan emphasized the need to use diplomatic opportunities to reduce tension and continue negotiations.
The statement added that Erdogan assured Macron that “Turkey does not covet anyone’s rights, but will not allow their rights to be digested, and supports dialogue to resolve current problems.”
Erdogan also emphasized, according to the statement, that “the cause of the tension in the eastern Mediterranean is the neglect of the legitimate rights of Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots in the region.”
The statement indicated that the phone call was made at the request of French President Macron.
For his part, the French president asked his Turkish counterpart to commit “unequivocally” to stop the escalation of tension in the eastern Mediterranean with Greece and Cyprus, the two members of the European Union.
The French news agency cited a statement by the French presidency in which Macron called on “Turkey to fully respect the sovereignty of the member states of the European Union, in addition to international law.”
Macron also asked Erdogan, according to the statement, “to refrain from any new unilateral steps that cause tensions, and to commit to ensuring an area of peace and cooperation in the Mediterranean in an unequivocal way.”
Turkey and Greece announced an agreement to resume talks between them on controversial maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean after a four-year hiatus.
The announcement comes after weeks of tension, culminating in a collision between a Turkish and a Greek warship.
The Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement without going into detail that the talks, which collapsed in 2016 after 60 rounds and did not progress for 14 years, would resume in the “near future” in Istanbul.
In turn, Turkey did not specify a time to resume the talks, but a senior official said they could start later this month, noting that there were “positive developments.”
On Tuesday, the Turkish president held video talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country mediated the conflict, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council.
“At this summit, where developments in the eastern Mediterranean were discussed, the Turkish presidency said in a statement … It was mentioned that Turkey and Greece are ready to start exploratory talks.”
In a videoconference address to the United Nations General Assembly, Erdogan said Turkey prefers to resolve differences “fairly and appropriately” through talks, but added that “futile” attempts to exclude Turkey from projects in the eastern Mediterranean will not be successful.
