NICOSIA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The top legislators of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt called for energy sources in the eastern Mediterranean to be turned into a catalyst for peace and prosperity, said a statement issued in Nicosia on Monday.
The statement said the parliament speakers of the three countries held their first tripartite conference in the Cypriot capital and called for the promotion of energy security "in strict compliance with international law and the respect of States' sovereign energy rights".
The parliament speaker of Cyprus, Demetris Syllouris, his Greek counterpart Nikos Voutsis and Egyptian counterpart Ali Abdel Aal, issued a joint declaration pledging to further strengthen the cooperation of their countries in the fields of energy, tourism, education and culture.
It added that they "agreed to fully exploit the potential of parliamentary diplomacy and to consider the possibility of cooperating with other Parliaments of countries in the region which share the same principles".
Cyprus and Greece have developed tripartite cooperation at governmental level with Egypt, Israel and Jordan, holding annual meetings of their leaders dealing with political, military, economic, agricultural, educational and cultural cooperation.
Cypriot government sources have said that a fourth tripartite cooperation agreement with Lebanon is in the making.
