Greek, Cypriot leaders discuss Cyprus issue

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on the phone with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday to coordinate their actions ahead of the Greek leader’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the two-day NATO summit in Brussels later today.

Talks between Tsipras and Anastasiades focused on the prospects to resolve the Cyprus issue.

The Greek Premier will meet with Erdogan at 2.30 p.m. (Brussels time).

Addressing NATO leaders on Wednesday, he raised the issue of the two Greek servicemen who have been imprisoned in Turkey since early March, calling it “an open wound” for the Alliance.

“The unprecedented fact that two NATO soldiers have been detained by another NATO country for more than 4 months because they accidentally crossed into its territory, without even being charged, is an open wound for NATO,” he told NATO leaders, and called on Turkey to “heal the wound with the immediate return of the two soldiers.”

Tsipras is expexted to call on Erdogan to release the two soldiers.