Better Greek-Turkish ties could ease Cyprus talks, Greek minister says

By John Irish

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An improvement in Greek-Turkish relations could help U.N. efforts revive talks between Cyprus' divided communities, Greece's foreign minister said on Monday ahead of a meeting between the Turkish and Greek leaders in New York on Tuesday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who last met on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington in July, will hold discussions at the United Nations General Assembly, the latest in a series of meetings since the two sides agreed to reboot their relations last year.

Neighbours Greece and Turkey, both NATO allies but historic foes, have been at odds for decades over a range of issues from airspace to maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean and ethnically split Cyprus.

"We have encountered some setbacks in the past, but the truth is that there is a strong political will to actually moderate the consequences of our disputes and to establish some de-escalation mechanisms at the ministerial level," Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

Tensions have eased in recent years and the longstanding sparring partners have pledged to keep open channels of communication, seek military confidence-building measures to eliminate sources of tension and work on the issues that have kept them apart.

They have also looked to work more closely on areas of mutual interest such as trade, tourism, health and migration.

"I could say in a nutshell that our relationship now has improved significantly, and we have established some mutual sincerity in things," Gerapetritis said.

The United Nations has been trying to find common ground for the resumption of long-stalled negotiations between rival Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in a conflict spanning decades.

Gerapetritis said that the situation remained "intolerable" but that he was moderately optimistic that discussions could resume soon at U.N. level.

"Obviously, the improvement in the Greek-Turkish relationship clearly provides a fertile ground for this," he said.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alex Richardson and Howard Goller)

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