Egypt boosts ties with Greece, Greek-administered Southern Cyprus

CAIRO

Egypt's relations with both Greece and the Greek Cypriots administration have warmed up since the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in the 2013 military coup.

On Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi started a 3-day visit to Greece, his third since he came to power last year following Morsi's ouster.

Speaking following talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, Sisi said Egyptian-Greek relations were prospering like never before.

Wednesday's trilateral summit is the third between the three leaders since the Egyptian military unseated Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, in mid-2013.

Three months after Morsi's overthrow, the foreign minister of Greek-administered Southern Cyprus , Ioannis Kasoulides, visited Egypt for talks with officials.

Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos followed suit by visiting Cairo in the same month for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmi.

Also in September, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece and Greek-administered Southern Cyprus held trilateral talks in New York, their first such meeting to discuss joint cooperation.

- Trilateral talks

In January 2014, then interim president Adly Mansour visited Greece, his first European visit since he was installed by the military following the coup.

Eight months later, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece and Greek-administered Southern Cyprus held talks in New York to prepare for a summit meeting between their leaders.

Another meeting was held in October in Nicosia during which they issued a statement reiterating that their talks were not directed at any country in the region.

In November 2014, Sisi, Anastasiades and then Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras held trilateral talks in Cairo during which they underlined the need to rally efforts to fight terrorism and speed up negotiations to define their maritime borders.

The same month, Egypt and Greece held talks in Athens with a view to enhancing their military cooperation.

In April 2015, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos paid a state visit to Egypt for talks with Sisi on means of boosting joint cooperation.

In the same month, Sisi, Anastasiades and Greek Premier Tsipras held trilateral talks in Nicosia as part of their efforts to enhance their cooperation.

In June, Greek army chief Mikhail Kostarakos visited Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on bolstering military cooperation.

Four months later, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece and Greek-administered Southern Cyprus held talks in New York, during which they vowed "unlimited support" for talks aimed at solving the Cyprus issue.