Erdogan: Let's bury Cyprus issue in history

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras yesterday met in Istanbul and attended a meeting of the Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council.  Speaking in a joint press conference following the meeting, Erdogan urged Samaras to extend joint efforts to end a dispute over the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. "Let's overcome this issue and bury this problem deep in the history. I believe with a strong political will, Mr Samaras' government and my government will receive a result which is crucially important for regional peace, security and stability," Erdogan said. Touching on the continental shelf issue, Erdogan said the two countries had been in talks for a while and he saw no reason not to reach a consensus over controversial issues, as long as the intentions of the parties were good. In response to a question about terrorism, Erdogan stated that Greece was also a country that had suffered from terrorism. “The relevant ministries of both countries are in close contact with each other. We will take joint steps against terrorism,” said Erdogan. Underlining that trade relations between Turkey and Greece are at record levels, Erdogan said that Greece was the fifth-most-invested country in Turkey. Regarding the same question, Samaras said that that Greece wanted to minimize this phenomenon, adding, “Terrorist events do not only have negative consequences for Turkey and Greece, but also only have consequences that disturb the whole world. We must fight against it.” Samaras also said Turkish-Greek relations were in a very important turning point and that Athens has always supported Turkey's vision to join the European Union.