Heiko Maas

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to a "wait-and-see" approach towards Turkey, with some member-states appearing more skeptical of Ankara's recent overtures.

EU foreign ministers are to consider how to react following the jailing of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and mass detentions at demonstrations across the country.

Three Baltic states are calling for sharper EU sanctions on Moscow, but most member states seem minded to wait a little longer before resorting to more restrictive measures ahead of Monday's talks.

Just a week before the resumption of the 61st round of exploratory contacts between the two countries, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Greece of "provocations" and "illegal militarization of islands," warning that "if Athens insists on not cooperating, then the responsibility for any tensions will be on its shoulders."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said relations with the European Union are in a "more positive place" but continued to accuse Greece of raising obstacles to exploratory talks planned for later this month.

Turkey wants to see concrete steps from the European Union to further enhance positive developments in the dialogue between Ankara and Brussels, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 18.

"Turkey-EU ties are in a more positive place now thanks to constructive steps," Çavuşoğlu said at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Jan. 18 called for a "solution-oriented" dialogue between Turkey and Greece to resolve disputes between the two countries and de-escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will pay a one-day visit on Jan. 18 to hold talks on Turkey-EU relations days before Ankara and Brussels are set to engage in an intense dialogue to re-energize ties and discuss the renewal of a 2016 migrant deal.

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has called for the extradition of Can Dündar, the exiled former editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet daily who has been sentenced to more than 27 years in jail on espionage and terror charges for one of the paper's stories.

Germany is against Greece's demands of imposing an arms embargo on Turkey due to tension in the Eastern Mediterranean, the German foreign minister said on Dec. 22. 

Heiko Maas told the DPA news agency that he finds the arms embargo on Turkey "strategically incorrect".

The European Union needs to respond jointly and in a coordinated fashion to a new coronavirus strain that was first reported in Britain to limit its spread to other states, Germany's foreign minister said on Monday.