President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou met on Wednesday with the outgoing Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, in a farewell meeting, and discussed geostrategic and political developments amid difficult times and Turkey's increased provocations. According to a press release by the House of Representatives, during the meeting, the President of the Cyprus Parliament expressed the deep appreciation, respect and gratitude of all the members of the Parliament vis-a-vis the Chief of the National Guard for his work for Cyprus' defence and security, as his term draws to a close. It is added that Demetriou praised the decisive contribution of Zervakis to the upgrading of the National Guard, the armament programmes and the force's capacity and expressed the conviction that Zervakis will continue to be a strong friend of Cyprus. It is noted that the Chief of the National Guard expressed his sincere thanks for the excellent cooperation with the Parliament and in particular with the Parliamentary Defence Committee and the excellent coordination. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency