EU tries to mediate as Greece, Turkey dispute over Mediterranean Sea deepens

European Union foreign ministers will try to pull Greece and Turkey from the brink of conflict over natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean

Turkey conducted military exercises with the US on Wednesday after Greece began war games with EU allies France, Italy and Cyprus

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A Greek frigate and military helicopter take part in a military exercise with EU allies in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on August 25, amid escalating tensions between Athens and Ankara. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:01am, 27 Aug 2020Updated: 12:05am, 27 Aug 2020

European Union foreign ministers plan to tackle one of the bloc’s most urgent and complex challenges on Thursday as they try to persuade member nation Greece and its neighbour Turkey to pull back from the brink of conflict in the Mediterranean Sea.

At informal talks in Berlin, the ministers are set to debate a range of sanctions and other policy options that might convince Turkey – still a candidate for membership in the 27-nation EU – to temper its insistence on drilling for energy reserves in disputed parts of the eastern Mediterranean.

The two-day meeting comes as Turkey and Greece, which are both members of the Nato military alliance, rattle sabres with warships and war games in the area, and as their leaders swap barbs over which of them is in the right and how far they would be willing to go to defend their interests.

Turkey's President Recep Erdogan has warned Greece not to test Turkey’s patience amid tensions between the two countries. Photo: AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Wednesday that his country “will never compromise on what belongs to us. We are determined to do whatever is necessary in political, economic and military terms”.

Turkey said on Wednesday it had conducted exercises with a US navy destroyer in the eastern Mediterranean, hours after its rival Greece began war games with EU allies France, Italy and Cyprus in an area south of Crete.

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