An important bilateral pact between Greece and Cyprus that will facilitate joint search-and-rescue operations between the two Mediterranean allies was signed on Monday. According to an official statement by Cypriot authorities, the deal provides for the coordination of search-and-rescue operations by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers of Larnaca and Piraeus. The two countries will also be exchanging information and conducting shared search operations. The agreement was signed Monday at the Foreign Ministry in Athens between Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos and his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides. The deal came a few days after the government of Nicosia stopped UN-brokered talks for reunification of the divided island in response to Turkey’s plans to search for gas and oil in waters where Cyprus is already licensed to drill. During the meeting between the two ministers, it was announced that the first trilateral summit between Greece, Cyprus and Egypt will take place in Cairo on November 9. A meeting between the three countries’ foreign ministers will be held in Nicosia at an earlier date. Greece and Egypt are seeking to carve out the two countries’ maritime zones. “You should all appreciate the timing of [this pact] between Greece and Cyprus,” Venizelos told reporters after the meeting. On his part, Kasoulides said that the two allies are examining a wide range of options “depending on how [Turkey] chooses to escalate its provocations.”
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