UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, will be meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in Athens today, November 5.
Eide will meet Samaras at 6 p.m., while earlier (at 4 p.m.) he will meet Venizelos, under his capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister.
Eide’s visit comes just one day before Samara’s trip to Cyprus and Egypt for the trilateral meeting between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt. This meeting comes at a time when Turkish aggression has reached its peak. Turkey recently issued a marine advisory for seismic surveys in international waters, including Cyprus’ Flight Information Region (FIR) as well as its EEZ without asking the authorities of Cyprus for permission as Ankara does not recognize the republic of Cyprus.
On November 6 and 7, Eide will be in Cyprus where he will have separate meetings with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.
A UN press release says that Eide has completed his one day visit to Ankara where he met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Undersecretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Feridun Sinirlioğlu and is scheduled to be in Athens next Wednesday.
Last week the foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus condemned Turkey’s actions at their meeting in Nicosia where they prepared for a summit between the three nations next month.
“The ministers deplored the recent illegal actions perpetrated within Cyprus’s EEZ, as well as the unauthorized seismic operations being conducted therein,” they said in a statement. Turkish seismic exploration vessel `Barbaros` entered Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The move comes a few days after Turkey issued a maritime order (NAVTEX) for the area.
The U.S. government has taken a rather active role in attempts to defuse tension in the eastern Mediterranean, triggered by the Turkish decision to send the seismic research vessel Barbaros — accompanied by two warships — to areas of the Cypriot Economic Exclusive Zone. It has recently been announced that the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy, Amos J Hochstein, will arrive in Cyprus tomorrow to assess the situation. This is part of wider American efforts to ease the tension and get Cyprus reunification talks back on track.
Last Friday, Vice President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades. According to a White House spokesperson, Biden relayed his concern about the latest issues in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as his hope that they would be defused through diplomatic efforts.
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