Five foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Egypt on Wednesday will hold a summit in Cairo to assess growing tension in the Eastern Mediterranean since Turkey signed a maritime deal with Libya.
Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said the meeting in the Egyptian capital will evaluate developments in the broader Eastern Mediterranean region, and how the current challenges are being addressed to create conditions of security and stability.
“The meeting is taking place in the framework of the excellent relations of the five countries and the continuous exchange of views and coordination on developments in the broader Eastern Mediterranean region,” Christodoulides told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).
He added: “The aim, is among others, to evaluate the developments and the situation being created, how, on the basis of a positive approach, challenges in the region are being addressed, as well as how, on the basis of the international law, conditions of security and stability are being created to the benefit of all the states.”
A statement by the Foreign Ministry of Egypt said the ministerial coordination meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus will discuss ongoing rapid developments in Libya.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will chair the meeting with his counterparts to discuss pushing forward efforts to reach a comprehensive political resolution for the Libyan crisis and military actions that aim to hamper such efforts.
The Foreign Ministers will also discuss the overall situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey on Sunday said it has started deploying troops to Libya to back the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) after it requested Turkish support last month as it fends off an offensive by General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, which are backed by Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
“There will be an operation centre (in Libya), there will be a Turkish lieutenant general leading and they will be managing the situation over there. (Turkish soldiers) are gradually moving there right now,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with CNN Turk.
