Turkey hopes Mediterranean talks could calm tensions with EU

After a five-year break marked by complaints of their rival claims for Mediterranean waters, Turkey resumes talks with Greece on Monday in the first test of hopes to overturn deteriorating relations with the European Union.

While diplomats say restoring confidence will be difficult, the talks follow Turkey's decision to stop its gas search in disputed waters, which angered Greece and Cyprus and a rhetoric cooling over Ankara's EU disputes.

Talks could pave the way for a close visit of leaders EU in Turkey.

Both sides say there is political will to improve relations, but after years of growing up over refugees, human rights, maritime claims, Turkey's military interventions and the divided island of Cyprus, the approach seems a distant prospect.

Voicing preserved optimism, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told Reuters that he saw a “potential” but that Ankara needed to “abandon this line of confrontation” and seek dialogue.

President Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused the bloc of “strategic pervert” against Turkey, told EU ambassadors in Ankara this month that he was willing to improve ties.

Diplomats say it will take more than a shift of tone and the withdrawal of Turkey's ship from disputed waters to stop calls from several EU states for sanctions on Ankara, which EU leaders will discuss in March.

I don't see any great reconciliation to get us out of the trajectory we're in. It will be an important gesture from Turkey”, a diplomat in Brussels said, adding there was no reason to be optimistic.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevluut Cavusoglu, in Brussels this week, on a mission to keep what he called the positive “ ” between Ankara and the EU, said Friday talks on Cyprus would be held in New York in the next two months.

Erdogan's effort to build bridges with Turkey's leading trade partner comes as his government struggles with an economic slowdown. While Pandemia COVID-19 has been the main curbing of growth, international tensions have also exacerbated the economy.

By setting a new economic path in November, Erdogan also promised reforms in justice, following repeated criticism from Western allies.

Turkey has ignored several decisions by the European Court of Human Rights calling for the release of the country's most prominent detainees -- Kurdish politician Selahettin Demirtas and businessman Osman Cavala.

Erdogan has not yet discovered what measures will be taken, but has ruled out the release of two men.

Better ties with Europe could partly depend on Ankara to address disputes with the new administration in the United States after Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey last month for its purchase of Russian defence systems.