by Oracle » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:01 am
Cyprus: FM Kyprianou visits Syria
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Markos Kyprianou paid an official visit to the Syrian Arab Republic, yesterday.
During his visit, Mr Kyprianou was received by the President of Syria, Mr Bashar al-Assad and held separate meetings with the President of the Parliament, Mr Mahmoud al-Abrash and the Foreign Minister, Mr Walid al-Moullem.
In the meeting with President al-Assad, the good relations between the two countries were reaffirmed, and the will to further enhance them was expressed. FM Kyprianou briefed the Syrian President on the current phase of the direct talks to solve the Cyprus problem and conveyed friendly greetings as well as a written message from the President of the Republic Mr Demetris Christofias.
During the talks that Mr Kyprianou had with his counterpart, Mr al-Moullem, Cyprus – Syrian bilateral relations were discussed, as well as pending agreements between the Republic of Cyprus and the Syrian Arab Republic, while they agreed to speed-up the process of finalizing them, in light of the President’s upcoming visit to the country. They also discussed the resolution of the recent Organisation of The Islamic Conference on Cyprus, and EU – Syrian relations, especially the EU-Syria Association Agreement. They also exchanged views on the issue of the Middle East peace process, on which Mr Kyprianou expressed the firm positions of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
On the part of Syria, the country’s support of the efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of UN resolutions was expressed, and the respect of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus was stressed.
Source: isria.com