Sisi, Tsipras discuss combat-terrorism means, Regional crises

CAIRO – 21 November 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met on Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of the fifth tripartite meeting between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece held in Nicosia.

The meeting praised the level of relations between Egypt and Greece recently, especially since the launch of the tripartite cooperation mechanism.

President Sisi and the Greek Prime Minister declared 2018 as the year of Egyptian-Greek friendship, stressing the importance of seizing such an opportunity to highlight the positive results of the development of relations between the two countries.

Sisi and Tsipras tackled the latest developments in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, discussing ways of combating terrorism and efforts to resolve the existing crises in the region.

From his part, Sisi affirmed Egypt’s continuous efforts to push for political solutions to crises in the region.

Sisi took part in in the fifth trilateral Summit as a part of tripartite cooperation mechanism launched in November 2014. Anastasiades, Sisi and Tsipras delivered speeches during the summit held on Tuesday.

The fifth summit aims to discuss ways to support and deepen exceptional relations among the three states, activate existing cooperation, and promote political dialogue on how to combat challenges in the Middle East and the Mediterranean regions.

Sisi arrived in Nicosia, Cyprus’s capital, on November 20 for his first official visit to the country. After the talks, the three leaders signed a Memorandum of Cooperation.

Anastasiades honored his Egyptian counterpart by granting him the Order of Makarios III, which is the highest order of merit awarded by Cyprus.

A working lunch is scheduled in honor of Sisi and Tsipras.