Erdogan to call for energy cooperation with Cyprus in Greek talks

President Nikos Christodoulides will speak with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitstotakis on Thursday, following the latter’s meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the press briefing, he said that Mitsotakis and Christodoulides are in constant communication, and that the two will speak on Thursday after Mitsotakis meets Erdogan.

Asked if the Cyprus problem will be among the topics Greece and Turkey discuss, Letymbiotis said: “The Cyprus problem is always high on the Greek government agenda.”

He added that any improvement in Greece-Turkey relations is not irrelevant to the Cyprus problem, which is something that Mitsotakis himself had mentioned previously.

In an interview with the Kathimerini newspaper on Wednesday ahead of his visit to Athens, Erdogan mentioned Cyprus, when discussing the hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean.

He repeated the proposal for co-exploitation of the energy resources in the maritime area of Cyprus “until a comprehensive solution is reached on the island”.

“I will tell him, Kyriakos, my friend, we don’t threaten you if you don’t threaten us,” Erdogan told Kathimerini, adding that Athens and Ankara could solve their problems without foreign intervention.

He said cooperation could be enhanced in sectors including the economy, transport, energy and migration, where Turkey needed the support of the European Union, and that the renewed electoral mandate both leaders received this year could help the two countries make constructive progress.