Cyprus–Greece relations

The Greek Cypriot-Greek governments' deal to build a natural gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean without consulting Turkish Cyprus can only be described as a hostile attitude, Turkish Cypriot Premier Ersin Tatar said on Jan. 5

Greece, Israel and Greek Cyprus on Jan. 2 signed an Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline project, planned to run from Israel to Greek Cyprus, Crete, Greece, and ultimately to Italy, local Greek media reported.

The deal was signed in Athens by the energy ministers of Greece, Israel, and Greek Cyprus, according to the Greek daily Kathimerini.

Prime Minister Kyriakos expressed great expectations after the signing of a trilateral agreement with Cyprus and Israel for the construction of the EastMed pipeline.

The PM described the agreement as the crowning achievement of the new geopolitical partnership with Cyprus and Israel, which creates new realities in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed a deal Thursday to build an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe.
The 1,900-kilometer (1,300-mile) EastMed pipeline is intended to provide an alternative gas source for energy-hungry Europe, which is largely dependent on supplies from Russia and the Caucasus region.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades held talks today ahead of a three-way meeting including Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The three countries will sign a trilateral agreement on the construction of the EastMed gas pipeline.

The intergovernmental agreement on the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline that will be signed by Greece, Cyprus and Israel in Athens on Thursday contains provisions on measures to protect the pipeline, government sources said.

EastMed Intergovernmental Agreement to be signed in Athens today between Greece's Energy Ministers Kostis Hatzidakis, Israel's Yuval Steinitz and Cyprus's George Lakkotrypis, in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar has said that Turkish Cypriots have repeatedly reached out to explore energy resources together with Greek Cypriots, but that the Greek Cypriot side has never accepted these proposals.

Experts in the Cyprus exhumed human remains in the northwest of the island, some 55 years after Turkish planes bombed a Greek Cypriot stronghold in Pachyammos.

Cyprus signed a 25-year concession on Thursday with a three-member consortium for the exploitation of a gas reservoir southeast of the island first discovered in 2011.