Foreign Ministry hosts meeting with Greek, Cypriot officials

The Foreign Ministry’s director general hosts a meeting with the directors of foreign ministries from Greece and Cyprus.

Dore Gold meets with his Greek colleague, former Ambassador Dimitris Paraskevopoulos and the Cypriot Foreign Ministry director, Alexandros Zenon, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The first Trilateral Political Consultations attended by secretaries general were held in Athens on 12 November 2014.

In the meeting today, the three officials discussed joint energy development, immigration, the war against terrorism, water management and other issues.

“The discussions reflected the common will to enhance even further the partnership between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus in all fields,” the statement says.

The meeting can be seen as an instance of quiet diplomacy vis-à-vis Turkey: It was this week that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists that “normalization with Israel” was possible if the sides can reach a compensation deal for the victims of the Mavi Marmara raid.

On Monday Gold issued a tepid, laconic statement in support of “stable” relations. “Israel has always sought stable relations with Turkey and is constantly looking for ways how to get there,” Gold said.

Erdogan is in hotter water than usual ever since his military downed a Russian jet last month. He has since tried to downplay the incident but Russia is flexing its muscles. Just last week, a Russian warship fired a warning shot in the direction of a Turkish boat.