The Foreign Minister of Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, said in statements to the press after meeting with Cyprus’ Foreign Minister, Constantinos Kombos, on Friday, in Nicosia, that Egypt is fully supporting the settlement of the Cyprus cause in line with the international law and in full respect of the Security Council resolutions, noting that this is of great importance for the de-escalation of the region.

“We are pushing to build bridges of cooperation and maximizing the use of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean and serving the prospective interests of all peoples of the region, based on respect of international law”, he said.

The Egyptian Minister also said that he would convey to the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, a message of friendship, a message of support, a message of cooperation from President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi.

Cyprus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs thanked his Egyptian counterpart for the principal position of Egypt and its support on the Cyprus issue, noting the excellent bilateral relations and the need for a speedy implementation of what has been agreed upon now between the two countries.

“I want to once again express our deep gratitude to Egypt for its position of principles and support based on international law and I want to reassure that we remain fully committed to the resumption of meaningful and substantive negotiations, in line with the UNSC framework. This is for us the only and exclusive foundation basis for any discussion moving forward”, Kombos said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Both Ministers mentioned the excellent bilateral relationship, noting the historical, cultural and political ties and the common values, such as the respect of rule of law and international law.

Kombos also thanked Egypt for its contribution, responding to Cyprus’ request for aid during the recent wildfires.

Abdelatty mentioned the importance Egypt attaches to strengthen cooperation with Cyprus across all fields, like investment, tourism, technology, energy, migration, business development, and security.