Foreign relations of Cyprus

Cyprus reunification talks should be aimed at the creation of a functional, viable and modern state that is compatible with European Union principles, Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades said in his message for Greek Orthodox Easter on Saturday.

A senior US Department of Defense official is making a formal visit to Athens Nicosia next week for consultations with the Greek and Cypriot administrations, according to a report from Washington.

A solution to the Cyprus issue is imperative, says the country's former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides, warning that allowing the situation to continue as is is no longer an option for Cypriots. There is no plan B, he says, expressing concerns about the "uncontrollable" Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the fact that "no one has the power to rein him in."

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades received on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

After the meeting, Blair told reporters that he had an excellent meeting with the President.

The UN is hoping dinner diplomacy can push-start stalled Cyprus reunification talks after Cypriot leaders agreed to meet for dinner to iron-out differences.

A statement was issued by the UN on Friday to confirm President Nicosia Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci will meet on April 16 inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia at the defunct airport.

Ankara's Foreign Ministry on Friday said that Thursday's condemnation by European Union leaders of "Turkey's continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea" was "unacceptable."

The US Ambassador to Cyprus Kathleen Doherty on Wednesday underlined Washington's support for Nicosia's right to explore and develop oil resources in its economic zone and, regarding Exxon's drilling in the region, said she did not anticipate any problems from Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Wednesday said that the "justice system will do what it must" in regards to the arrest last week of two Greek soldiers who accidentally strayed across Turkey's border and suggested that Greece must regard the incident as "a serious diplomatic issue in order to have conveyed it to the European Union."

Greek Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades urged Turkey on Feb. 21 to lift its blockade of offshore gas exploration that would benefit both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots if the island is reunited.

Turkey's actions in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) cast doubt on prospects of a just solution to the island's division, Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis has said.

Turkish warships have been preventing a rig from carrying out exploratory drilling off Cyprus on behalf of Italian company Eni for a week, citing military maneuvers.