Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Meets with The American Jewish Committee

Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Kyprianou met last Friday with a delegation of The American Jewish Committee, headed by its Executive Director David Harris.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Kyprianou said that the Committee plays an important role in the United States in various decision making centres. He said that they had a very interesting discussion.  It gave him the opportunity to refer to the current phase of the talks on the Cyprus problem and where they stand today, to issues concerning Turkey, its role in the area and its accession course, and to the positions of Cyprus on this issue. “If Turkey does not comply with its obligations and does not start meeting its obligations, it will have consequences not only on the accession, but also on the accession course itself” he pointed out.
Kyprianou said that during the meeting Cyprus’ role in the region was discussed given the fact that the main policy of the government is to establish Cyprus as a key player in the region. Cyprus is a member of the EU and also close to the countries of the region and act as link between Europe he explained.
He added that after the crisis in the relations between Turkey and Israel, Cyprus is the only country that at this stage maintains good relations, contacts and an open and sincere dialogue with all the countries in the region. “We believe that this can be utilized by the international community and of course by the EU” he stated.
Minister Kyprianou expressed the belief that briefing organizations such as The American Jewish Committee helps gain their support in the United States on issues concerning Cyprus.
The Foreign Minister added that he also informed The American Jewish Committee about Cyprus’ good relations with the US Administration and the cooperation that exists between them.
Replying to a question concerning the occupation regime’s plans for Karpasia, Kyprianou said that The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the representatives of The European Commission for quite some time now and that we have raised the issue silently and with discretion from the very first moment the information was publicised. He pointed out that at first, it seemed that the plans were postponed and that now they seem to be resurfacing. Minister Kyprianou said that he has sent a letter to the responsible Commissioner, who plays an important role to this effort. He underlined that the activities of the occupation regime on Greek Cypriot properties are illegal and that in this case it is even worse since these activities are being carried out in a protected area. “We will co-ordinate our efforts with the European Commission and we hope that this position of the occupation regime will be revised” he concluded.