Greece and Turkey take first step towards resolving eastern Mediterranean dispute 

Turkey and Greece resume talks today to resolve the dispute over hydrocarbon exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, after a diplomatic crisis that has been dragging on for months and a debate that has been pending for years. 

The Greek delegation will be received by the number two of Turkish diplomacy, Seda Onal, to resume the dialogue at the point where it was left in 2016 before being suspended, as requested by the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.  

Turkey's dispatch of the vessel Oruç Reis to the waters south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo to conduct a seismic survey set off alarm bells in Athens last August, which, together with other Turkish exploratory missions, sparked the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries since 1996, when they were on the brink of war. As a gesture of appeasement, however, Ankara ordered the return of the Oruç Reis at the end of November. 

The talks are taking place in a context in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to ease tensions with the European Union, which has threatened to impose sanctions on Ankara if it does not resolve the dispute with Athens, undermining Turkey's economic woes, which have been aggravated by the pandemic. Added to this is the uncertainty over its future relationship with the United States now that Joe Biden is president.  

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said it was with "optimism and hope" that he faced the talks. "Greece has always been in favour of dialogue under two conditions: an end to Turkey's aggressive actions in the Greek exclusive economic zone; and the resumption of negotiations from where they were in 2016," he added. 

Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias assured that they come in a "constructive spirit" and in "good faith". "We do not want an escalation... On the contrary, we hope that these contacts will lead to a reduction of tension, as expressed by the European Council last December, when it spoke of the "smooth continuation" of exploratory contacts. I hope that the Turkish side will come to these contacts in a similar spirit," he stressed.  

However, the minister himself wanted to lower expectations, since "these are not negotiations, but contacts to explore whether there are points of convergence for possible future negotiations". 

The Turkish authorities have welcomed the "positive atmosphere" of recent weeks. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, during a trip to Brussels last week, expressed confidence that the dialogue in Istanbul would yield "results". 

NATO, the military organisation to which both countries belong, has played a decisive role in reducing tensions. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday, in early October the Atlantic Alliance launched a mechanism agreed by Greece and Turkey, within the organisation, with the aim of bringing positions closer together.  

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, welcomed the fact that 'the atmosphere' in relations between EU member states and Turkey had improved after a year marked by diplomatic clashes. 

At the last summit last December, EU leaders asked Borrell and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to study the possibility of extending sanctions on Ankara depending on how Ankara's attitude evolves. Individual sanctions against officials involved in exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean were approved. 

While today's meeting is an important step, the two countries have not been able to specify what issues will be discussed. Athens only wanted to talk about the delimitation of the continental shelf of its islands in the Aegean Sea, while Ankara wants to extend the talks to the definition of exclusive economic zones and airspace. 

A few days ago, the Greek legislature approved the extension of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea, by mutual agreement with Italy after decades of negotiations, from six nautical miles to 12. As the Greek prime minister pointed out, "the extension of territorial waters complies with international law", however, if applied in the Aegean Turkey would consider it a "casus belli", as it has considered any Greek expansion in the Aegean since 1995.  

"It is a national law that is applied as a result of international cooperation and sends a message to the East," Mitsotakis warned the parliament in a clear reference to Turkey.