The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referred to Turkey’s illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, in his statements after the meeting he had in Nicosia with the Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis, expressing, at the same time, Washington’s concern.
Mike Pompeo made it clear that Greece and Cyprus have every right to exploit natural resources in their maritime zones, recalling that revenues from the sale of natural gas in Cyprus will be shared between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots.
Mr. Pompeo referred to the partial lifting of the arms embargo by the United States, noting that the mooring of Russian ships in Cyprus, operating in Syria, is a matter of concern.
The US Secretary of State also said that the US shares the same values with Cyprus and recalled the invitation for Cyprus to participate in the military training plan, while he described as important the signing of an agreement on Saturday for the establishment of a Regional Security Training Center.
Finally, he referred to the Cyprus issue, saying that the US is in favor of a solution on the basis of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation that will work for the benefit of all.
Anastasiadis: Turkey must end its offensive in the EEZ
The Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis in his own statements referred to the important developments in the Eastern Mediterranean due to the illegal activities of Turkey.
He stressed that these must stop immediately and expressed the appreciation to the US government for its firm position and its full support for the unimpeded exercise by Cyprus of its sovereign rights.
The problems, he said, should be solved through dialogue and not through gunboat diplomacy.
Mr. Anastasiadis reiterated his commitment to resume talks on resolving the Cyprus issue from the point that stopped in 2017 in Crans Montana. The Cypriot President noted that it is necessary for Turkey to end its offensive actions in the EEZ. He also said that he urged Mr. Pompeo to mediate towards Turkey in order to end the provocations and its actions for the settlement of Varosha.
Regarding the bilateral relations with the USA, he stated that Nicosia remains committed to closer cooperation and strengthening of their partnership, which, according to Mr. Anastasiadis, could be called a strategic.
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Pompeo avoided meeting with the Turkish-Cypriot leader
Meanwhile, shortly before Mike Pompeo’s visit, it became known that the American ambassador to Cyprus informed Mustafa Akinci on Friday about the “inability” of Mike Pompeo to meet him due to the limited duration of his visit.
Akinci claimed that he was offered to speak by telephone with the US Secretary of State, something that the US embassy in Nicosia denies.A statement from the “representative of the presidency” of the pseudo-state states that the Turkish-Cypriot leader characterizes this development as negative as it is not possible for such an attitude to be adopted.According to him, the problems in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean can not be resolved through unilateral meetings and this is a “serious mistake” which the Turkish-Cypriot people can not accept.
This is the first time a US official has visited Cyprus and has not made contact with the Turkish Cypriot side.
At the same time, the Turkish side is particularly annoyed by the joint Cyprus-US naval exercises that started today and will end on September 20.
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