Spain FM calls for easing of tensions with Turkey

The Spanish and Turkish foreign ministers agreed progress was being made between a bloc of European Union nations and Turkey after a period of frayed relations.

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.

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

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.