NICOSIA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of Cyprus and Greece said on Friday that "international law, our strong alliances and our membership in the European family" are their shield against the strong rhetoric from the leaders of Turkey, who dispute the sovereignty of Greek islands in the eastern Aegean.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met to discuss what an official statement described as Turkey's "provocations and aggressive rhetoric against Greece," and also the demand for a solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem.
Cyprus was partitioned when Turkey sent troops to intervene in the island's northern part in 1974 in response to a coup staged by the military rulers of Greece at the time.
At a joint press conference with Mitsotakis, Anastasiades said that they had agreed that Turkey's rhetoric was "foreign to our mentality."
Mitsotakis agreed with Anastasiades's remarks that the defense by both Greece and Cyprus "in the face of any revisionist disposition is international law, strong alliances, the participation in the European Union and coolly passing over any rhetoric which is outside the rules of good diplomatic practice."
"I believe that we will soon be able to return to calm waters, while always keeping open the channels of communication," he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accusing Greece of militarizing the islands close to the Turkish coasts in violation of international agreements, saying that for this reason Turkey will raise the issue of Greece's sovereignty over the eastern Aegean islands.
Turkey also said that it will carry out further drillings for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean as it has done in the past in areas demarcated by Cyprus in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as its exclusive economic zone. ■