NICOSIA — "Your visit coincides with a period of crisis, which is the result of Turkish aggressiveness, of the Turkish illegal actions both in the Aegean and in the Eastern Mediterranean," Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said to visiting President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday.

During their meeting, Αnastasiades underlined that without Greece's calm reaction, the series of illegal actions on Turkey's part would have inevitably led to undesirable – for people that love peace – situations in the region.

Welcoming Sakellaropoulou at the presidential mansion , Anastasiades said that the problems of Greece and Cyprus are Europe's problems because both countries' borders are also Europe's borders.

On her part, Sakellaropoulou said that her visit to Cyprus is indicative of the special relationship that binds the two countries and of the importance that Greece places on the Cyprus issue. "It is obviously a very difficult conjucture," she underlined, adding: "My visit here points out that both countries have a single and solid diplomatic front, always guided by the shared national interests and always based on international law. We have seen difficult times to which you also referred and nobody can guarantee that they are over. The withdrawal of the Oruc Reis is a step toward de-escalation but it remains to be proved whether this was a tactical move with a short-term goal or a choice with depth and continuity."

(ANA/M. Kalogeraki)