Turkish, Greek FMs meet unofficially

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu thanked the Greek government for its support in the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported.

The minister, who was in Elounda on the Greek island of Crete for an unofficial meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, said the solidarity and clear attitude that Greece showed made the Turkish people very happy.

“No one, especially in Europe, can understand better than Greece and the Greek people the danger that Turkey went through."

Referring to the negotiations on the Cyprus issue, the Turkish minister said that Ankara supports every effort to address the issue.

 “We support the ongoing negotiations in Cyprus and efforts to put forward a solution,” he told reporters. “Hopefully, this time the parties will not miss this good chance. Turkey and Greece are ready to provide them with the necessary support.”

Cavusoglu noted that the reunification of Cyprus was supported by Turkey.

Reunification talks were resumed in May 2015 and are expected to be resolved by the end of this year with the formation of a federal administration.

In turn, Kotzias told that he discussed with his Turkish counterpart bilateral relations and current issues on the regional agenda.

 "We have agreed on the further development of relations in terms of economy, transport and confidence-building measures,” he said.

The diplomat stressed that the meeting is of great importance not only for the two countries, but also for the region.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.

However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender on July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people excluding the coup plotters and over 2,000 people were wounded.

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.