If the efforts for the Cyprus issue go ahead, the efforts for the gas will also go, said Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidis, speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, which discussed the developments in the EastMed pipeline and its geopolitical significance and the external dimension. EuroAsia Interconnector ».
"Keeping the Cyprus problem open raises much more unilateral actions on the part of Turkey, which" will create even greater difficulties, "he stressed.
"Certainly Turkey would be interested in passing natural gas through Cyprus and going to Turkey as it is the cheapest way if it passes through the land area of Cyprus," he said, adding that "such are the positions of Turkey and the toxic climate is being created, this issue cannot be controlled at the moment ".
That is why we all say, according to the Foreign Minister, that "it is better for the Cyprus issue to be resolved and for Turkey to have this perspective to benefit from the solution".
Answering questions from MEPs, Mr Kasoulides questioned whether they thought "the EU will ever go any further against Turkey" - other than protests and diplomacy - when major European interests of big countries like Germany have a different point of view.
Turkey and EMGF
Regarding Turkey's participation in the Euro-Mediterranean Gas Agency (EMGF), Mr. Kasoulides said that "a year and a half ago, Turkey was hostile to Egypt and Israel and almost all the members participating in the EMGF, and neither was interested nor and others would like it. "
He also expressed the belief that "then Cyprus was not the obstacle".
Now that things have changed (Turkey) has not shown interest, he added.
RES and dead zone
Stating that Cyprus, which has the sun, should make use of it, Mr. Kasoulidis announced that one of the options for this purpose "is the agreement through the UN to fill most of the dead zone with photovoltaics, to The Turkish Cypriots who have a continuous power outage can also be supplied - because it seems that the Ankara protocols have created an additional problem for them - and we ".
EU-Egypt-Israel Agreement
Regarding the EU-Egypt-Israel agreement to increase gas exports to the Union, Mr. Kasoulides said that Cyprus "is not outside the EU-Egypt-Israel agreement".
He added that when we talk about the EU, Cyprus as a member state is present.
KYPE