Top EU officials urge Ankara to free soldiers, stop violations

Senior European Union officials on Monday called on Turkey to improve its relationship with Greece and Cyprus and for the swift release of two Greek soldiers who have been in Turkish custody since early March, indicating that progress in EU-Turkish talks on other issues hinged on these issues. 

European Council President Donald Tusk said the EU's leadership expressed concerns about Turkish actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, and over the detention of the Greek soldiers who, he said, are EU citizens. 

Tusk made his remarks during a joint conference in Varna, Bulgaria, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who said it is "indispensable" for Turkey to improve its relationship with Greece and Cyprus. 

During a conversation with Juncker and Tusk earlier, Erdogan is said to have suggested that...