UPDATE - Top Turkish, Greek diplomats talk Eastern Med dispute

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM CAVUSOGLU

By Muhammet Tarhan

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia / ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish and Greek foreign ministers on Thursday discussed the dispute over the Eastern Mediterranean and around the island of Cyprus, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu and Greece's Nikos Dendias met on the sidelines of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum in Slovakia's capital, added the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Speaking to the press after the meeting with Dendian, Cavusoglu said that they agreed to hold exploratory talks over Eastern Mediterranean.

The two diplomats had around 25 minutes in haste meeting.

Earlier this week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Cavusoglu and then Dendias to resolve the tensions over energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The visits came after Turkey and Greece reached a "common understanding on general principles" on the Eastern Mediterranean in meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels last week.

Tensions have recently escalated regarding the issue of energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece has disputed Turkey's energy exploration, trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast.

Turkey, the country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean, has sent drill ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also have rights in the region.

To reduce tensions, Turkey has called for dialogue to ensure fair sharing of the region's resources.