Cyprus envoy: Relations with Egypt at ‘best point ever’

In an interview with the Egyptian state-run Al-Ahram, Cyprus’ ambassador to Greece has said that relations with Egypt are at their “best point ever.”

“Egypt and Cyprus are in complete agreement regarding all the above, and this agreement creates the conditions for co-creation,” said Kyriakos A. Kenevezos in reference to the Egypt-Cyprus-Greece summit and the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum.

“It is for this reason that in the context of the many meetings that have taken place in recent years, agreements and collaborations have emerged regarding so many areas and pillars of action of our two states.”

Egypt has close ties with Cyprus, holding several energy, gas exploration and border demarcation summits. Previous meetings have also discussed a range of other issues including counterterror, Palestine and the war in Syria.

Egypt has defended its ally and said that it supports the reunification of Cyprus. Cairo has also spoken out against violations of its territorial waters and signed an agreement to demarcate their maritime borders in 2013.

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Kenevezos’ comments reiterate what Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said in December last year during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, that bilateral relations “are now at the highest level of all time.”

During that same meeting Egypt said that talks to reunify Cyprus as a federation should be within the framework of a UN-backed roadmap,

The comments were directed at Turkey’s plans for a two-state solution in Cyprus and were analysed as a sign of renewed tension between Egypt and Turkey despite recent attempts to mend relations.

Over the summer last year, following a decade of hostility, Cairo and Ankara developed warmer relations and found common ground particularly over Libya and maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean.

Now, Cyprus has accused Turkey of looking for a peace deal which increases its control over the energy rich eastern Mediterranean and destabilising foreign policy in the region.