Macron says Mediterranean leaders want end to Turkey’s ‘unilateral actions’

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, after a summit of Mediterranean leaders, that Europe wants to renew dialogue with Turkey after weeks of tensions in order to end the “unilateral” actions by Ankara.

“We want to reengage a dialogue... we are not naive but we want to reengage in good faith,” Macron said after the summit of seven EU Mediterranean leaders in Corsica. “It is genuinely by restoring normal relations which allow stability in the region with Turkey, to obtain the end of unilateral actions,” he added.

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In a statement published on Thursday, the Mediterranean littoral members of the EU, gathered for their seventh summit in Corsica, France, said they reiterated their “full support and solidarity with Cyprus and Greece in the face of the repeated infringements on their sovereignty (...) as well as confrontational actions by Turkey.”

“We maintain that in the absence of progress in engaging Turkey into a dialogue and unless it ends its unilateral activities, the EU is ready to develop a list of further restrictive measures that could be discussed at the European Council of Sept 24-25.”

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