Meetings and statements of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Diaspora Greeks, Antonis Diamataris, in Cyprus (Nicosia, 27 August 2019)

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Diaspora Greeks, Antonis Diamataris, is carrying out a two-day visit to Cyprus, during which he will participate in the World Conference of Overseas Cypriots. The Secretary General for Diaspora Greeks, Ioannis Chrysoulakis, is accompanying the Deputy Minister.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Diamataris met with the Cypriot Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots, Fotis Fotiou. In joint statements to the news media, Mr. Fotiou characterized the meeting as very productive and constructive. He stressed that Greece and Cyprus have common goals and that “we are coordinating in order to be more effective and productive.” The Cypriot Commissioner also stated that there is a single Hellenic diaspora and that it is a “major weapon” for promoting the two countries’ interests. He also said that, during their meeting, they had the opportunity to talk about the progress in the two countries’ trilateral cooperation on diaspora issues with other countries, such as Israel, Egypt and Armenia.

Mr. Diamataris referred to his very close ties with and great love for Cyprus, saying how deeply moved he was to be visiting Cyprus as Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Diaspora Greeks. The Deputy Minister noted how useful the meeting was, calling it a “meeting of souls” during which they discussed the next steps in the two countries’ collaboration on diaspora Hellenism issues. “The time is ripe for us to recognise the role of the diaspora, the importance of its contribution,” he stressed, referring to the two countries’ moral and national obligation to diaspora Hellenism. He also expressed the need to hold a conference in Athens on Greek language issues, inviting Mr. Fotiou to visit Athens as an official guest of the Greek government.

The Deputy Minister then met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus.  In the afternoon, Mr. Diamataris will participate in and address the opening ceremony of the 20th World Conference of Overseas Cypriots. The Conference will also be attended by the Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Isaac Herzog, the Armenian Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Zareh Sinanyan, Romania’s Minister for Romanians Abroad, Natalia Elena Intotero, and Serbian State Secretary Nemanja Stevanovic.