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The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, pays a brief visit to Cyprus, where he arrived at the Presidential Palace under draconian security measures around 9:00 p.m. and was received first by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and then by the President of the Republic of Cyprus.
It is a pleasure to welcome the #US Secretary of State in #Cyprus. Dear @SecPompeo, your visit, at a time when crucial events are taking place in the eastern Mediterranean due to the illegal actions of Turkey, rightly the interest of the United States in preserving stability in our region. pic.twitter.com/wG9zfFDAcG
– Nicos Anastasiades (@AnastasiadesCY) September 12, 2020
The agenda of the talks includes the Turkish challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean, the strengthening of bilateral relations between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus, and the Cyprus issue. Nicosia describes the visit as important, considering the current situation with the broader developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Mike Pompeo was received at the Presidential Palace of Cyprus around 9:00 PM on December 9 by Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis, and lengthy talks between the two delegations followed. Following the statements to the media, Mike Pompeo and Nikos Christodoulidis will sign an agreement to establish a Security Training Center in Cyprus.
President Anastasiadis, expressing particular satisfaction, pointed out to the head of US diplomacy that the visit is taking place, while there are critical developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, due to illegal Turkish activities. He stressed that these visits to Pompeo show the interest of the United States for stability in the region.
Mr. Pompeo, accompanied by US Ambassador Judith Garber, arrived in Cyprus after his trip to Doha. Speaking on a flight to Qatar, he referred to his visit to Nicosia to seek a peaceful solution to escalating tensions in the Mediterranean and called on Turkey to withdraw its forces from the region.
Nicosia was notified of the intention of the United States Secretary of State to visit Cyprus on Thursday evening, in the context of a telephone conversation between the United States Secretary of State, Philip Reeker, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulidis, who expressed the disposition of the Cypriot government to a high-ranking official.
The State Department announcement
Deputy State Department spokesman Kale Brown said in a written statement Saturday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had paid a visit to Cyprus.
“In Nicosia, he will meet with President Anastasiadis and Foreign Minister Christodoulidis to discuss the ongoing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the deepening of bilateral relations between the United States and Cyprus, as well as to reaffirm the United States’ support for a comprehensive agreement of the island as a bizona, bi-communal federation, which will benefit all Cypriots, as well as the region in general, “the statement said.
It is recalled that Mr. Pompeo was going to visit Cyprus last January, as part of a tour of the region, but this was canceled due to the crisis with Iran after the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad.
Source: philenews
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