ATHENS: Greek authorities are not being naive about their exploratory talks with Turkey but they “will not fall in the trap to undermine the dialogue” by withdrawing from it, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said last week. His comments came as Ankara faced criticism from some quarters that it was acting provocatively toward Athens on a number of fronts. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs had proposed to Ankara that the next round of exploratory talks on the maritime boundary dispute between the two countries take place between March 1 and 5. However, Turkey failed to reply to the invitation. If the meeting does eventually go ahead it will be the 62nd round of the talks, which began 2002 but broke down in 2016 when Ankara froze discussions. Negotiations resumed in January this year amid pressure from the EU, and Germany in particular, to defuse escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.