Greece, Turkey to hold new negotiations next week

SANAA, March 11 (YPA) – Ankara and Athens will hold a second round of negotiations on the settlement of the maritime dispute between the two sides on March 16-17, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“The next round of constructive negotiations and political consultations between Turkey and Greece will be held in Athens on 16 and 17 March 2021,” the ministry said in a statement issued On Wednesday.

The negotiations will take place ahead of an EU summit this month, during which leaders of the bloc countries are expected to discuss the ongoing dispute between Turkey and Greece.

Turkey and Greece have differences over energy rights, claims of sovereignty in Mediterranean waters, airspace and the status of the Aegean islands.

The biggest escalation seen in the Eastern Mediterranean region, where Turkey has carried out energy resource exploration in waters that Cyprus and Greece consider to be theirs, while the European Union has repeatedly expressed support for their position, criticizing Turkey’s “illegal” actions, and threatening Ankara with sanctions.

As tensions between the two sides escalated as military exercises and mutual threats intensified, NATO, which groups the two countries, initiated military talks last year that led to the formation of a mechanism to resolve suspicion between Turkish and Greek forces.

E.M