Recep Tayyip Erdogan, EU Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a tripartite teleconference on Tuesday to assess developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Greek-Turkish relations in the run-up to the possible exploratory talks.

Erdogan said Greece‘s steps would be important in terms of “how to revitalize the channels of dialogue” between the two sides.

The Turkish President also expressed confidence that constructive decisions would be taken by a regional conference with the participation of all parties, including the Turkish-Cypriots.

According to Erdogan, reciprocal steps are needed on both sides to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, while “Turkey is always the one that emphasizes dialogue and negotiations, despite the challenges that are contrary to common sense”.

Expressing his appreciation for Germany’s mediation efforts, Erdogan said the steps Greece needs to take will be important in terms of agreeing on the resumption of exploratory talks and the revitalization of other channels of dialogue.

Regarding to the EU Summit, which will start on Thursday that will discuss the Turkish provocation, the Turkish President expressed the hope that, in good faith, his country’s relations with the EU will be restored.

At the same time, the three leaders (Erdogan, Merkel and Michel) agreed that the EU’s cooperation with Turkey on a sound basis will help resolve the regional problems that have arisen, while expressing satisfaction with the joint efforts to create a positive agenda between the parties involved.

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For his part, Charles Michel’s spokesman Barend Leyts stressed that during the teleconference “various perspectives on bilateral relations between the EU and Turkey were discussed. They also discussed the resumption of direct Greek-Turkish exploratory talks”, he said.

Apart from the three leaders, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hulusi Akar participated in the teleconference.

Erdogan-Macron communication

Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have a telephone conversation with French President Emanuel Macron at 20:00 on Tuesday (Turkish time), according to information from the Turkish media.

The two leaders, who have exchanged harsh statements in the past, will look for ways to de-escalate the tension that has arisen, after Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean.