Turkey ready to put its relations with EU back on track: Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday he wanted to improve relations with the European Union and was hoping for the same "goodwill" from the 27-nation bloc.

"We are ready to put our relations back on track," Erdoğan told the ambassadors.

"We expect our European friends to show the same goodwill."

Meeting with the ambassadors of EU member states, Erdoğan said he expects the envoys to support "turning a new page" in Turkish-EU relations.

"It is in our hands to successfully transform EU-Turkish relations in 2021," he told the gathering at the Çankaya Palace in the capital Ankara.

"We believe that the exploratory talks... will be the harbinger of a new era," Erdoğan said as referring to the new era in ties to the Greek side.

Turkey and Greece this week agreed to address their long-standing dispute over maritime borders at exploratory talks in Istanbul on January 25.

The meeting will be the first since so-called "exploratory talks" between the two uneasy NATO neighbours were suspended after 60 fruitless rounds stretching 14 years in 2016.

He also said he was open to better relations with Paris after months of personal feuds with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We want to save our relations with France from tensions," Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan also reiterated the need for the EU to tackle the menace of anti-Muslim prejudice in their countries, saying: "In addition to threatening the security of nearly 6 million people living in Europe, Islamophobia is turning into a big black hole in terms of European values."

After a year of ups and downs, Turkish leaders have said they hope for progress in ties with the EU this year, and expect the bloc to take clear steps towards this end.

Turkey has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2005, but progress towards its accession has been stalled for years.