Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a phone call with his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades that Egypt stands by the reunification of Cypriot territories.

Egyptian presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said the two leaders discussed enhancing bilateral relations as well as creating new horizons of cooperation between the two nations.

The Cypriot president informed El-Sisi about the latest developments in negotiations to reach a peaceful resolution to the Cypriot territorial dispute.

The Republic of Cyprus is recognised as the sole legitimate state with sovereignty over the entire island; however, the north is de facto under the administration of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkey has kept an estimated 35,000 soldiers in Cyprus since invading and seizing a third of the island in response to a rightwing coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece in 1974.

Turkey does not recognise Cyprus as a state, and says that drilling efforts by the island's internationally recognised government infringes on the rights of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to the island’s potential mineral wealth.