The rapprochement between Greece and Turkey after the re-elections of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won’t include talking about Cyprus, the northern third occupied since 1974 Turkish invasions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the warmer ties with Greece after Erdogan threatened to invade presented a “great opportunity” to settle disputes over the seas and differences.

But he said that won’t include Cyprus, where Turkey keeps 35,000 troops on the occupied side no other country in the world apart from Turkey accepts and wants the United Nations to recognize.

That has seen Erdogan and Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar insisting on only a two-state solution that has gone nowhere and rejected by the legitimate government of the Greek-Cypriot side that’s a member of the European Union.

Erdogan said he wants to renew Turkey’s bid to join the EU, however – but would keep an army on the occupied side – which was also dismissed as a non-starter by Cyprus’ fellow member states in the bloc.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 14th Ambassadors’ Conference in Ankara, Fidan said that, “We wish to advance our relations with all countries in our region on a positive agenda.”

But he said that means, “In this light we are sincere. We hope that the Greek side will show the same sincerity,” he said, while noting that “on the other hand, our stance on Cyprus, our national cause, is clear.”

That, he said, was, “The recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of Turkish-Cypriots. We will continue to protect our rights and interests in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.”