Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides embarked on a historic visit to Palestine, becoming the first Cyprus president to visit the region in eight years, according to Cyprus Mail.
Accompanied by a delegation of top officials, Christodoulides met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and agreed to a trilateral summit with Greece.
According to an official announcement, Christodoulides went to Ramallah from Jordan, where he is on an official visit, in the morning, in the first visit of a Cyprus president to Palestine since 2015.
“We welcome you as a beloved visitor to Palestine, your visit is an important opportunity to enhance the relations of friendship and mutual cooperation between our two countries and friendly people in various sectors, such as trade and tourism as well as various aspects of economic cooperation,” Abbas said.
“We also appreciate Cyprus’ effective political role within the EU which we hope will continue to support the Palestinian state for its full integration into the UN, as well as its recognition by most European countries in the context of the last opportunity for a two-state solution based on international law.”
For his part, Christodoulides said that he supports a two-state solution for Palestine based on the relevant UN votes of 1967.
In turn, he thanked Abbas for Palestine’s long-standing support for resolving the Cyprus problem within the agreed UN framework.
“Today’s visit shows the historic and strong bonds between Palestine and Cyprus,” Christodoulides said, adding that they discussed key topics.
Those included closer cooperation in the cultural, financial and tourism sectors, along with a trilateral cooperation with Greece.
Source: Cyprus Mail.
