‘Russia relations with Turkey do not affect relations with Cyprus’

RUSSIAN ambassador Stanislav Osadchiy said on Wednesday that Russia’s normalisation of relations with Turkey would not affect Moscow’s relations with South Nicosia nor its positions on the island’s division.

“We are entering the stage of smooth relations with Turkey, because they were bad in the past. Now our relations are entering a stage of mutual interest, mainly in the economic sector,” the ambassador said during a visit to Limassol.

The cooperation between his country and Turkey would not affect relations with South Cyprus.

“We have said many times, we support [South] Cyprus on the Cyprus problem and other matters and our delegation now in Turkey is discussing relations with Cyprus.”

Mr Osadchiy also sought to allay fears over the construction of a nuclear power plant on the Turkish coast, saying there was no cause for concern. He was commenting the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin officially marked the start of work on Turkey’s first nuclear power station at Akkuyu. The $20 billion power station in the southern province of Mersin will be built by Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom.

Mr Osadchiy said South Cyprus should not worry about the nuclear plant, which will employ the latest technology.

The ambassador said the government has been briefed about the safety of the station by a delegation of the construction company, which met officials in South Nicosia a few months ago.

Of the deal to sell Turkey the S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems, Mr Osadchiy said it was simply a commercial transaction.

“We simply sell these systems and get the money for them,” he said.

The Greek Cypriot government said on Thursday it will be issuing démarches “in every direction” against the planned construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Its spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said the operation of the power station posed a health risk to the region, but especially to Cyprus due to its proximity to the location of the facility.