Turkey’s foreign minister held phone conversations with his Hungarian, Lithuanian and Bulgarian counterparts on Thursday, according to a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Mevlüt Çavuşuğlu and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto discussed recent matters related to the Eastern Mediterranean.
THE PHONE CALLS CAME AFTER RECENT TENSIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
In a separate phone conversation, Çavuşuğlu also addressed the recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean with his Lithuanian and Bulgarian counterparts Linas Linkevicius and Ekaterina Zaharieva.
The phone calls came ahead of European Union’s extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council, which is to be held on Friday to address recent tensions between Athens and Ankara in the Eastern Mediterranean after Turkey announced it would continue seismic research and surveying with its drillship.
As part of the country’s hydrocarbon surveying activities, Turkey issued a NAVTEX (navigational telex) on Aug. 10, 2020, announcing that its Oruç Reis vessel would begin conducting fresh seismic research in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey’s decision came following a controversial delimitation deal signed between Greece and Egypt, only a day after Turkey said it would postpone its activities in the region as a sign of goodwill after mediation efforts from Germany.