Tensions over Turkey's gas exploration in disputed waters in the Eastern Mediterranean dominated talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Union chiefs on Friday. 

In a video call with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Erdogan claimed Ankara had maintained its "constructive approach" on the issue, despite "provocations" from both Greece and Cyprus.

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Turkey has been carrying out seismic gas explorations in the shelf off the Cypriot coast since August 2020, amid a territorial stand-off that has led France to deploy warships to the region.

Speaking last June, Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay claimed the republic was "tearing up and throwing away the maps of the Eastern Mediterranean that imprison us on the mainland."

The EU has backed member state Greece in the dispute and threatened punitive measures against Ankara. 

In a statement on Friday, the European Commission called for "a sustained de-escalation" of hostilities ahead of next week's European Council meeting, which should again discuss Turkey's stalled membership negotiations to join the bloc and also the future of United Nations-brokered talks on the future of Cyprus, where Turkey acts as a guarantor to the island's north.  

Turkey is also calling for concessions ahead of talks, notably an upgrade to its existing EU Customs Agreement, now 26 years old, and a commitment from Brussels to visa-free travel for Turks going to Europe. 

More pressingly, Ankara also wants a commitment to improvements to the 2016 migrant deal, which has curbed the number of refugees traveling from Turkey into EU states, saying the burden on the country, particularly from Syrians, is rising. 

On Friday, three more migrants drowned in the seas off the coast of Izmir attempting to cross by boat to Greece.

Meanwhile, the dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean appears to be on hold, with the respective foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey due to meet in Ankara next month.