New round of Turkey-Greece talks set for March 16 in Athens

The next round of consultative talks between Turkey and Greece will be held in Athens on March 16-17, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on March 10. The previous round of meetings was in Istanbul on Jan. 25.

Thursday March 11 2021 12:13 am

Duvar English

Turkey and Greece will hold a second round of talks aimed at addressing maritime disputes on March 16-17, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on March 10, ahead of a European Union summit later this month where leaders will discuss the dispute.

"The next round of Consultative Talks and Political Consultations between Turkey and Greece will take place in Athens on 16-17 March 2021," the ministry said.

The neighboring NATO members, at odds over energy rights and claims to Mediterranean waters, air space and the status of some Aegean islands, resumed talks in January after a five-year hiatus.

The two countries made little progress in 60 rounds of talks from 2002 to 2016.

Plans for resuming discussions foundered last year over Turkey's deployment of a survey vessel in contested Mediterranean waters and disagreements over which topics to cover.

Ankara and Athens agreed in January to resume talks in Istanbul, in a test of Turkey's hopes of improving its relations with the European Union, which has supported EU-member Greece and threatened sanctions on Turkey.

Analysts have said an immediate breakthrough is unlikely given decades-old policy differences, but that resuming dialogue is an important first step after EU pressure on Ankara.