Mediterranean row: Turkey says ready for talks with Greece without 'preconditions'

Turkeysaid on Tuesday it was ready for talks with Greece in their growing row over eastern Mediterranean natural gas without any preconditions.

The olive branch came as the two uneasy NATO allies' navies conducted separate exercises close to each other just south of Crete in a mutual show of force.

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"We are in favour of negotiations for fair sharing but nobody should lay down preconditions. This cannot happen with preconditions laid down by Greece," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after talks with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Ankara.

Greece said it will launch military exercises Wednesday with France, Italy and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, the focus of escalating tensions between Athens and Ankara.

The joint exercises south of Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete will last three days, the defence ministry said.

The discovery of major gas deposits in waters surrounding Crete and Cyprus has triggered a scramble for energy riches and revived old rivalries between NATO members Greece and Turkey.

Tensions ratched up another notch when Turkey sent the Oruc Reis research vessel accompanied by warships to disputed waters on August 10.

EU powerhouse Germany is spearheading efforts to avoid an outright military conflict that could imperil Europe's future access to newly-discovered energy reserves.

Greece's maritime claims are backed by the entire European Union, but the bloc has so far held back from heavily sanctioningTurkey, fearing possible retaliation from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Maas shuttled between Athens and Ankara on Tuesday in a bid to get the sides to temper the rhetoric and re-enter direct talks.

After both visits were over, Maas conceded that the dispute had entered a "very critical" phase.

Nevertheless, "no one wants to solve this issue in a militaristic way," Maas said through a translator, "and there is a willingness on both sides for dialogue."

Cavusoglu praised the German mediation effort but said Ankara made a good faith gesture by announcing a pause to its exploration activity last month.

He argued thatTurkeyfelt it had to resume its work when Greece signed an agreement with Egypt to set up an exclusive economic zone on August 6, violating a general sense of goodwill.

On Sunday,Turkeyannounced a decision to extend its exploratory ship Oruc Reis's mission by an extra four days to Thursday, which prompted an immediate Greek response to carry out naval exercises nearby.