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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Jordan expressed on Friday their preference for a results-oriented approach when it comes to the trilateral cooperation scheme with Greece, urging for patience before the three countries reconvene again on a Ministerial level.

Nasser Judeh, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is in Nicosia upon the invitation of his Cypriot counterpart, Ioannis Kasoulides, in order to address on Friday the annual Ambassadors` Conference. Earlier this morning, the two Ministers also had a tête-à-tête at the Foreign Ministry, followed by a working lunch.

Replying to questions before the conference, Judeh said that the trilateral scheme "is not about deadlines and meetings for the sake of meetings". He stressed the potential in various areas of cooperation between the three countries, such as tourism, energy, water and regional security. "Let`s see results and lets meet these results before meeting," he said.

He also wished to be able to see one day, in the not too distant future "not just trilateral cooperation, but multilateral cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean".

From his part, Kasoulides said that following the first trilateral ministerial meeting in Brussels last January, and the contacts that followed between the Permanent Secretaries of the three Foreign Ministries in April, all sides need now to "get their homework" done, so that tangible results come out of this cooperation.

"We prefer to organize a ministerial meeting with a little bit of patience, because we want to be able to come out and announce concrete and tangible results," he added.

On energy discussions between Nicosia and Amman concerning the "Aphrodite" gas reserve, located in block 12 of Cyprus` exclusive economic zone, Judeh said that talks continue, both bilaterally and on a trilateral level, including Greece.

The Jordanian Foreign Minister noted that exploration efforts and the potential to export gas entails a wider discussion, however "on the bilateral/trilateral level, we are on the right track".

In his initial remarks, Foreign Minister Kasoulides briefed his Jordanian counterpart on the ongoing negotiations on the Cyprus problem and expressed Nicosia` appreciation for Jordan’s principled position in the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and in other international fora.

He stressed that Jordan is a pivotal country in the region, as well as in the efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and assured of Nicosia`s ongoing support to Amman.

"We will continue to support Jordan within our means. We will provide material support to His Majesty King Abdullah’s Aqaba Process initiative which aims at combating terrorism" Kasoulides noted.

On his part, Nasser Judeh said he looked forward to the opening of the Jordanian Embassy in Cyprus, that will play its role in promoting further relations between the two countries.

"We are extremely thankful and appreciative to our Cypriot friends, not just in the context of our bilateral relations, but in the context of the support that we get from Cyprus in the EU," he added.

He stressed that the two countries have to closely cooperate, both politically and in terms of security, in order to face the challenge of violent extremism and terrorism. "Jordan and Cyprus are directly affected by the developments of the region," he added.

On the content of his private meeting with Kasoulides, the Jordanian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister said that they focused on the ongoing political crisis in Syria, the attempts for political reconciliation in Iraq, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as on problems in Yemen and Libya.

On Syria, he said that the only solution is a political one, warning against the continuation of the unresolved conflict that nurtures extremism. He reminded that 1.3 mln Syrians live on Jordanian soil, comprising almost 20% of the country`s population. This is a commitment Amman undertakes on behalf of the international community, Judeh concluded.

*FG