Today, Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced the end of the 63rd round of consultative talks between Turkey and Greece in Ankara.
“The 63rd round of consultative talks between Turkey and Greece was held today in Ankara, “the ministry said in a tweet via his official Twitter account.
The previous round of talks was held in Athens on March 16 and 61st round was held in Istanbul in January.
In this round, the term “consultative” was used for the talks previously described as “exploratory”, as these talks deal with the resolution of problems in the Aegean and the Mediterranean between the two countries.
A fair, lasting and complete solution
The two countries began negotiations on March 12, 2002 in Ankara to lay the foundations for a “just, lasting and comprehensive” solution to the Aegean problems that both sides could accept.
Ankara and Athens held 60 round talks between 2002 and 2016, which were then suspended due to the Greek side’s objection to the content. Bilateral talks continued in the form of political consultations, but were not resumed as part of exploratory talks.
Plans to resume talks were stalled last year by Turkey’s dispatch of a reconnaissance ship to disputed waters and disagreements over issues to be discussed.
There are differences between Turkey and Greece on their maritime borders and the limits of their airspace.
A Turkish ship in the Mediterranean (Archive – Reuters)
demarcation of the maritime border
Turkey accused Greece of militarizing the Aegean islands in violation of international and bilateral agreements, while Greece denies the Turkish accusations and claims that the only problem between the two neighbors is the demarcation of maritime borders.
Tensions also erupted in the eastern Mediterranean last year, after Ankara sent its seismic ship Oruç Reis into disputed waters with gunboats to map thearea offshore for potential oil and gas exploration.
excessive demands
Turkey, which has the longest mainland coast in the eastern Mediterranean, has rejected claims about the maritime borders of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration in the region, saying that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and Turkish Cypriots. .
Last December, Turkey recalled the ship to pave the way for diplomacy in view of an EU summit, during which EU leaders discussed sanctions against Ankara.
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