U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Psaki’s Cypriot Comments

The Greek-American spokeswomen had the following responses.

QUESTION: Jennifer, the Cyprus Government consider Turkish actions in its exclusive economic zone as an invasion. What is your position on this matter? And I'm not asking your position on Cyprus in general; on this matter, if you have a position.

MS. PSAKI: Well, I know you're not asking for our position in general, but I just want to repeat for the record we recognize the Republic of Cyprus's right to develop its resources in its exclusive economic zone. We continue to support strongly the negotiation process conducted under UN Good Offices to reunify the island into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. We continue to believe that the island's oil and gas resources, like all of its resources, should be equitably shared between communities in the context of an overall settlement. It's important to avoid actions that may increase tensions in the region, and certainly, we've conveyed that as well.

QUESTION: You asked them to avoid action, you asked Turkey? Which one, which – or Cyprus?

MS. PSAKI: We are continuing to convey that broadly, and certainly, we believe that's how things should proceed from here.

QUESTION: Can I ask you something else? The Government of Cyprus said that the president of Cyprus asked the United States to intervene to Turkey and asked them to stop its provocative actions. Can you tell us if the Secretary of State spoke, for example, with Mr. Davutoglu on this matter?

MS. PSAKI: I don't have anything to read out in terms of Secretary's conversations. We remain engaged at a senior level with, of course, the government. We also support the UN special advisor's efforts to bring the parties back to the table and are in close touch with him as well.

QUESTION: But the Israeli defense minister was here yesterday, and he accused Turkey at an appearance at the Pentagon of supporting Hamas and being a second headquarters for terrorist organizations trying to destroy Israel. I just wanted to know if the United States has any view on his remarks, given that Turkey is such an important part of the anti-ISIS coalition and other diplomatic efforts. But do you see this as detrimental to any efforts here to get Turkey on board with things the international community is doing?

MS. PSAKI: I don't – I haven't – I don't have any specific comment on his comments, but I will say that our conversations with Turkey are, of course, ongoing. And obviously, they have taken steps and indicated an openness to having the Peshmerga travel through. They have taken steps over the course of the last week or so to increase their participation in the coalition. This is an ongoing effort, but we don't see an impact from those comments.