Russia Pushes Turkey Closer to Greece
Turkey and Greece are back under the spotlight as Russia’s Gazprom restated the importance of Turkish Stream for Greece’s energy security, while the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders openly referred to the opportunity of resuming negotiations about the future of the Mediterranean island.
On Monday, Gazprom’s Alexey Miller met with Panagiotis Lafazanis, Minister of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy.
‘The parties addressed Russian gas supplies to Greece and other issues of cooperation in the energy sector. It was emphasized that diversification of export routes was essential for enhancing the reliability of supplies to European consumers’ reads a note released on Monday night, speaking about the so-called Turkish Stream.
Meanwhile, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders sent conciliatory messages.
‘Encouraged by the window of opportunity resulting from these developments, we expect the Greek Cypriot side to return to the negotiation table without further delay, with a view to achieving progress in the settlement talks in line with the principles and objectives established in the 11 February 2014 Joint Statement’ the Turkish Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Monday, referring to Saipem 10000 drillship and Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa withdrawal from the Cypriot waters.
The Cypriot government said that the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus is optimistic about a possible resumption of the negotiations.
“The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, will return to the country on 6 April to follow up on the encouraging indications received during his last trip to the island regarding a possible resumption of the negotiations. Mr Eide will meet bilaterally with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to continue discussions on prospects for the resumption of talks in the spring” Nicosia wrote in a press release on Tuesday, reporting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq’s statement during the press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.