European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell had on Saturday a scheduled teleconference with Turkey`s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss the pandemic and EU-Turkey relations. Participants also referred to the Cyprus issue, CNA learns.
The teleconference lasted for an hour and a half and von der Leyen announced that they had a “positive exchange” with the President of Turkey, while noting that the two sides exchanged views on the situation in relation to the COVID19 pandemic, the economic recovery and the implementation of the framework of the decisions of the European Council of December 2020.
An EU source told CNA that the teleconference is taking place as part of the open chanels Brussels and Ankara maintain, and ahead of a report to be prepared jointly by the European Commission and the European External Action Service, on the basis of the political mandate of the European Council regarding EU-Turkey relations, in light of efforts to de-escalate tension in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Another source told CNA that during the teleconference, Erdogan said that he regards as positive the steps taken in relation to the upcoming bilateral dialogue with Greece and Cyprus settlement talks under UN aegis. No planning for trips was announced.
