EU/Turkey: High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the way forward in mutual relations

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell held talks with Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Brussels on Thursday.

The talks provided an opportunity to take stock of EU-Turkey relations in the framework set by the European Council in December, and discuss the way ahead with focus on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is a centrepiece in EU-Turkey relation.

The European Council in December invited the High Representative and the Commission to submit a report on the state of play concerning the EU-Turkey political, economic and trade relations and on instruments and options on how to proceed.

The European Union has a strategic interest in the development of a cooperative and reciprocally beneficial relationship, anchored in values and principles. The meeting between J.Borrell and M. Çavuşoğlu permitted a cordial, frank and thorough exchange of views in order to advance in this direction.