Peter Stano, spokesman for the High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy in the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, ruled out the 28-members bloc may not take punitive measures against
Turkey in the current circumstance.
He said, two days ahead of the European Union summit held on October 1,2, which will deal with relations with Turkey, that it is still too early to follow the sanctions approach.
Stano added that the EU is still sticking to the option of dialogue between Ankara and Athens to resolve their differences and reduce escalation.
However, "if this does not happen, it is up to state leaders to see how to progress in dealing with Turkey."
The European Commission considered the positions of experts, whose consultations Brussels are based on in making its decisions in this regard, as mere "personal opinions" that are not binding on the European Union.
These clarifications came after the issuance of conflicting statements by experts regarding the existing disputes over Eastern Mediterranean gas between Turkey and Greece, which added some ambiguities and questions to the European position on them.
Brussels insisted on the need to return to the official interests of European institutions to know their positions.
The leaders of the European Union countries will meet on 1 and 2 October to discuss developments in the eastern Mediterranean and to identify ways of mutual engagement with Turkey.
On the other hand, Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that his country sees the European Union summit, which will be held on October 1 and 2, as an opportunity to repair relations between Ankara and Brussels.
But Kalin stipulated that the EU should reach the presentation of specific proposals and a timetable to enable cooperation between this European bloc and Turkey according to a joint road map.
He said that he believed that the EU summit has an opportunity to reset relations between Turkey and the bloc and that it is "an important opportunity" and "we can reset it (relations) there.
He added that he sees "this willingness on the part of many member states of the European Union" to de-escalate the tension between the two parties.
For weeks, Turkish-European relations have been in a severe crisis due to the conflict between Ankara and Athens in the eastern Mediterranean over the gas discovered in the region.
The next EU summit aims to calm differences and reset relations with Ankara, an important member of NATO, and the EU's southeastern neighbor, which is essential to ensuring security and stability in this region and the entire Mediterranean basin.
In addition to the eastern Mediterranean crisis, there are other contentious files between Ankara and Brussels, such as the issues of immigration, the Turkish candidacy to join the European Union, and the Syrian and Libyan crises.
Bloomberg agency reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to agree to supply Ankara with a modern European defense system.
On Friday, the agency quoted Turkish officials familiar with the matter as saying that Erdogan, in a phone call that took place last Tuesday between him and Macron, asked the French president to give up his opposition to cooperation with Ankara in the production of the SAMP / T defense system manufactured by the European company "Eurosam."
However, a French official at the Elysee Palace, premise of the French presidency, confirmed to the agency that Macron responded to this request by saying that Turkey should clarify its objectives in Syria before examining the possibility of exporting European defense systems to it.
Ankara has negotiated with Paris in recent years about the possibility of Turkey's participation in the production of the advanced European missile system and the deployment of these missiles on its territory.
The news came against the backdrop of recent differences between Turkey and France due to the military escalation in the eastern Mediterranean.
Last year, Turkey acquired several batteries from the advanced Russian "S-400" missile system, despite strong American opposition to this decade.
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