23.12.2011                      27.Kislev. 5772                       Channuka 3

Diplomatie:

Turkey is behaving like a regional 'bully,' Cyprus FM says

Speaking to Haaretz during an official U.S. visit, Dr. Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis estimates Ankara will not initiate military action over a contentious gas exploration project in the eastern Mediterranean.

In an interview with Haaretz on Wednesday, Cyprus' Foreign Minister Dr. Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis insisted that a recent boon in relations with Israel should not be credited solely to deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey.
"It's not that it has been an opportunity to fill the vacuum that was created as a result of severing the Turkey relations with Israel – with Israel we always had good relations, even when your ties with Turkey were very strong," Kozakou-Marcoullis told Haaretz during her official visit to Washington.
"It has always been very important relations – we saw it strategically important to increase them, and we are getting closer and closer. And now, of course, we have this common project in our neighborhood – the natural gas," she added….