Greece’s new prime minister got a warm welcome from the Greek Cypriot administration leader on Monday at the beginning of a two-day working visit.
After meeting at the presidential palace, Nicos Anastasiades said Kyriakos Mitsotakis paying his first overseas visit to the Greek Cypriot side shows their strong relations.
VISIT CAME AMID TENSIONS WITH TURKEY
Speaking after the meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiadis, he said that talks between the two leaders focused on developments with Turkey.
Mitsotakis called it a “great joy and honor” to make his first official trip abroad to the Greek Cypriot side, as is traditional. When Greece is strong, so is the Greek Cypriot side, the premier added.
Mitsotakis said that ending the “occupation” of the island’s north by Turkey is a top priority.
The visit comes amid tensions with Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) over energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey sending out two ships to seek out underwater resources.
Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.