The Republic of Cyprus will not be dragged into any escalation of tension with Turkey, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades stressed this week, while also expressing a view that after the upcoming elections in that country “the situation in relations between Europe and Turkey should be re-assessed.”
In an interview with “N”, Anastasiades again pointed to what he called Ankara’s “aggressiveness” in the island republic’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Nevertheless, he said Cyprus’ energy policy will not change and will continue with scheduled operations and tasks.
His comments come after Turkish warships in March blocked an Italian drill ship from conducting exploratory drilling in Cyprus’ waters in early March 2018.
Turning to the decades-old Cyprus problem, Anastasiades expressed a hope that the United Nations will assume a new initiative “as soon as possible” in order to jump-start “substantive negotiations” between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides.
In combining what he called the “excellent potential” of natural gas deposits in Cypriot waters with prospects for a Cyprus solution, he referred to “a wealth that belongs to all Cypriots … this should, reasonably, be considered an incentive instead of a source of agitation for Turkey”.
Turning to the economy on the east Mediterranean island republic, he said private debt “remains accumulated from the past”, especially in terms of non-performing loans, which are a constant challenge for the Cypriot economy. At the same time, he referred to robust 3.5 percent GDP growth rates enjoyed by the country, one of four Eurozone members that needed an emergency credit line since 2010.
As for the ongoing and soon-to-be completed (third) Greek program, he expressed a wish that “at long last something that appeared as a vicious cycle will end.”
