The Minister of Foreign Affairs Erato Kozakou Markoullis will be representing Cyprus at the international conference on Libya, to take place in Paris on September 1, at the initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

She will then fly to Poland, where she will participate in the EU Informal Gymnich on September 2 and 3, during which she intends to raise the issue of recent Turkish threats against Cyprus, for which the EU has already been informed.

The EU Ministers will focus on recent developments in Libya and Syria, and will discuss the peace process in the Middle East, especially in view of the UN General Assembly.

Other issues expected to be on the agenda are the implementation of the revised European Neighbourhood Policy and the situation in Ukraine.

Turkey, whose troops occupy Cyprus` northern part since they invaded in 1974, has threatened Cyprus in relation to plans by Nicosia to explore its exclusive economic zone and exploit possible oil and natural gas reserves.

In recent statements the Turkish PM questioned the existence of the Republic of Cyprus, warned the EU that its accession negotiations with Ankara would freeze if Cyprus assumes the Union’s rotating presidency in July 2012 without a political settlement and ruled out the return of the Turkish occupied areas of Morphou and Karpass to the Greek Cypriots in an overall solution.