Spain FM calls for easing of tensions with Turkey

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said both countries were aware of the need to "avoid unilateralism" in dealing with issues affecting Ankara and the EU.

Arancha González Laya, Spanish Foreign Minister said: 

"What I have felt from my discussion with the minister Mevlut Çavusoglu is progress has been made too, both in the way of relations between Turkey and Greece and in relations between Turkey and Cyprus and in relations between Turkey and France, to give you some examples."

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Turkey had seen heightened tensions with Greece and Cyprus over energy prospecting in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

González Laya added: "We have also talked about regional issues such as the eastern Mediterranean, in which we also seek to comply with the decisions adopted in European councils and especially those that call for dialogue and cooperation, those that call to avoid unilateralism and those that call to seek de-escalation of tensions and avoid provocations."

A diplomatic dispute also emerged between France and Turkey after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty and French President Emmanuel Macron's defence of the right to caricaturize Islam's Prophet Muhammad.