The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, continued Thursday 27 September her contacts in the framework of the UN General Assembly, in New York, with separate meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, Morocco, Tajikistan, Cuba, Korea, Israel and Panama.
Bilateral relations and issues concerning the Organization of Islamic Cooperation were discussed with the Ministers of Malaysia, Mr Dengko Dzaraif, of Morocco, Mr Saad-Eddine El Othmani, and of Tajikistan, Mr Hamrokhon Zarifi. Dr Kozakou-Marcoullis also took the opportunity to brief her counterparts on the Cyprus problem. The Cypriot Minister expressed her gratitude to the Moroccan Foreign Minister for his country’s support of Cyprus, from its position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
At the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Panama, Mr Roberto Henriquez, in addition to bilateral relations, the two also discussed Panama-EU relations. Issues of mutual interest and ways of reinforcing bilateral ties were among the issues of discussion of Dr Kozakou-Marcoullis with her Cuban counterpart, Mr Bruno Rodriguez Parilla, as well as during the meeting with her Korean counterpart, Mr Kim Sung-Hwan. With the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Avigdor Liberman, the Cypriot Minister discussed, inter alia, the situation in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning, Dr Kozakou-Marcoullis participated in the Ministerial level side-event and panel discussions on “The Civil Society and the Education on Human Rights as a tool for promoting religious tolerance”, jointly organized and co-chaired by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Jordan.
In her intervention, the Cypriot Foreign Minister condemned the abhorrent crimes in Benghazi, which, as she said, should serve to awaken the international community. She supported the international community’s stance that the attacks by fanatic and radical elements are deplorable and she fully agreed with the value of education, “if we really desire a better future,” noting that the extinction of conflicts and the rejection of violence can only succeed through educating and cultivating respect for the others, regardless of religion and beliefs.
Dr Kozakou-Marcoullis stressed that Cyprus, due to the fact of the ongoing 38-year occupation and destruction of the religious and cultural heritage by the occupying power, is particularly sensitive towards this issue.