Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis has expressed optimism regarding the upcoming informal meeting between the UN Secretary-General, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, on October 15, in New York. In an interview with Sunday edition of the Greek newspaper "Kathimerini" Gerapetritis described the meeting as a "positive development." He emphasized that the improvement in Greek-Turkish relations contributes to a more favorable climate for restarting the Cyprus talks. "Only through productive dialogue can there be a viable solution, of course within the framework of the Security Council resolutions. No discussion is ever over before it begins," he stated. Commenting on the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project, the Foreign Minister underlined that it is "progressing normally" following an agreement on its financial aspects and the resolution of the last pending issues by the Energy Regulatory Authorities of the two countries. "Greece is not backing down from its initial plan," Gerapetritis clarified, reminding that it is a project of mutual interest for the EU, which is co-financing it. Regarding to the Greek-Turkish relations, Gerapetritis stressed that Greece aims to reach an agreement with Turkey on the delimitation of their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and continental shelf by January, clarifying that the discussions would not include territorial waters, which he called a "sovereign and inalienable right of the Greek state." Gerapetritis is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Athens in November to discuss the next steps. If common ground is found, the green light for official negotiations will be given by the two countries' leaders during the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting scheduled for January in Ankara, it is added. While acknowledging Turkey's longstanding claims, Gerapetritis reiterated that Greece would not recognize any claims stemming from the "illegal and invalid" Turkish-Libyan memorandum and ruled out th e resumption of exploratory talks, deeming them historically ineffective. He also addressed the reopening of the Halki Theological School, characterizing it as an "ecumenical issue" rather than a bilateral one. 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