Cyprus the focus of a Biden administration, Carpenter says

A Biden administration would hopefully put Cyprus at the forefront of its efforts for peacebuilding in the eastern Mediterranean region, Michael Carpenter, managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, has said on The Greek Current podcast of The Hellenic American Leadership Council.

Carpenter was reacting to comments by US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden who on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump’s administration to put pressure on Turkey to halt its provocations against Greece.

The former vice president, Carpenter said, had suggested Turkey was leaving very little room for diplomacy.

“It’s not enough just to call on the two sides to engage in diplomacy and to de-escalate. You have to identify what the obstacles are,” said Carpenter while being critical of Trump’s “cozy relationship” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.