Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced a meeting with Nikos Dendias in the coming weeks in order to start a Greek-Turkish dialogue.

Turkey's stance is a provocation directed at all of the European Union, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias underlined on Monday, in statements on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Turkey today rejected a European Parliament resolution imposing sanctions on Ankara following a recent visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to the occupied northern part of Cyprus, calling it "out of touch with reality" and "blackmail". On Thursday, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling on EU leaders to "take action and impose severe sanctions" on Turkey, a move that is likely to boost support for France's bid to impose sanctions on Turkey at next month's EU summit.