New EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Thursday, the European External Action Service said in a press release
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) New EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Thursday, the European External Action Service said in a press release."The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, met today with the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the margins of the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava," the press release published on the service's website stated.
The ministers shared their views on a diverse range of topics, including on the recent developments in EU-Turkey relations and regional issues, notably Syria, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq, the release added.
Earlier in the day, Turkey, Germany, France and the UK announced that a four-party meeting, dedicated to the situation in Syria, will be held in Istanbul in February.
Relations between Turkey and the European Union have become frayed in recent months. In November, Cavusoglu accused the European Parliament of hypocrisy and insincerity in response to the condemnation of the Turkish military operation in Syria, and other issues surrounding the movement of refugees into Europe from Syria.
Further issues have arisen regarding Turkish hydrocarbon drilling off the coast of Cyprus. On Monday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis condemned Turkish exploratory oil and gas drilling near the coast, arguing that it undermined European Union efforts to embrace renewable energy sources.
The current OSCE Ministerial Council event, held this year in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, is the organization's most important annual event gathering together ministers of foreign affairs of the OSCE's participating countries and 11 partner states from the Mediterranean and Asia. The current OSCE chairmanship will be taken over from Slovakia by Albania on January 1, 2020.
