The pair met in Vilnius on the eve of a NATO summit, after Erdogan declared that Turkey would not approve Sweden's bid to join the alliance without a revival of Ankara's EU ambitions.
In a tweet, Michel hailed a "good meeting", adding that they had "explored opportunities ahead to bring EU-Turkey cooperation back to the forefront and re-energise our relations."
Turkey has been a formal candidate to join the European Union since 2005, and an aspirant since long before that, but talks have long been stalled with little sign of life.
Separately, NATO member Turkey has been blocking Sweden's attempt to join the military alliance, accusing Stockholm of harbouring Kurdish activists accused by Ankara of terrorism.
On Monday, in a surprise move ahead of Tuesday's NATO summit, Erdogan linked the two diplomatic logjams, demanding that the NATO allies that are also EU members clear Turkey's path.
"First, open the way to Turkey's membership of the European Union, and then we will open it for Sweden, just as we had opened it for Finland," he said, before flying to Lithuania.
Once in Vilnius, Erdogan broke off talks with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg to hold an unplanned one-on-one with the EU's Michel -- before then meeting Swedish premier Ulf Kristersson.
US: Turkey should not link joining EU to Sweden's NATO entry
Washington (AFP) July 10, 2023 -
The United States supports Turkey's bid to enter the European Union but does not believe Ankara should link that to accepting Sweden's entry into NATO, a senior American official said Monday.
"The United States has for a number of years supported Turkey's EU aspirations and we continue to do so," said State Department spokesman Matt Miller.
"However, we do not believe that it should be an impediment to Sweden's accession to NATO," Miller said.
Earlier Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stunned fellow NATO leaders on the eve of their Vilnius summit by linking his approval for Sweden's candidacy to a resumption of Ankara's long-stalled membership talks with the European Union.
Miller stressed that the United States has no role in EU decisions on its membership, saying: "Ultimately, that's a matter between the European Union and Turkey."
But he said the expansion of NATO to include Sweden was important to Washington.
He pointed out that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan three times in the last six days, and that President Joe Biden spoke with Erdogan on Sunday.
Sweden has met Ankara's demands to gain its approval for entering NATO, Miller said.
"We believe that Sweden has addressed them and, as I said, we think it's time to move to full membership," he added.
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