Netanyahu: Israel has Strong Interest in Helping Resolve Cyprus-Turkey Dispute

20:11 - 25 Ιουλίου 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, on July 24, agreed that resolving the dispute between Turkey and Cyprus will aid in the development of energy resources in the area and help strengthen regional stability, a joint statement said. 

The two leaders earlier lauded their nations' cooperation ahead of their meeting in Jerusalem, i24news reports.

"Cyprus and Israel are two small democracies in the eastern Mediterranean," Netanyahu said. "We also share common challenges, and also common opportunities: in security cooperation, in gas, in emergency cooperation, commerce, tourism, many, many fields."

The prime minister recalled that in 2010 Cyprus sent a plane to help fight a forest fire in Israel, an act that Israel reciprocated when Cyprus suffered its own forest fire last month.

"And that's exactly the kind of thing that friends do," he said. "They come to each other's help in times of need, but also cooperate in good times or cooperate to make times better. And that's why I'm particularly proud to have this opportunity to continue the dialogue we began on a tripartite basis in the Nicosia summit."

Netanyahu, Anastasiades, and Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras met in Cyprus in January and have announced plans to hold another meeting later this year.  

Anastasiades thanked Israel for its help during the disaster, adding that the two countries "are reliable partners that see eye to eye on a wide agenda of issues, reaching from energy to security to a very sincere, open and frank political dialogue."

According to i24news, the Cypriot president said he and Netanyahu meet frequently, noting that it was their fifth meeting in a year, and regularly speak on the telephone.

"In this spirit," said Anastasiades, "I look forward to our meeting today to discuss how to enhance more our bilateral relations in the fields of energy, security, economy and trade, to exchange views on the regional developments, to brief you on the negotiations about the Cyprus problem, and of course to prepare for the next trilateral meeting later this year with our Greek colleague here in Jerusalem, in order to continue the work which we started in Nicosia last January."

The January meeting focused on energy cooperation between the Mediterranean states.

  

newsletter Εγγραφη

Ροη Ειδησεων

ΟΛΕΣ ΟΙ ΕΙΔΗΣΕΙΣ
Altamira22