Advancements in EU-Türkiye relations linked to progress on Cyprus problem: Greek premier

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Advancements in relations between the European Union and Türkiye are linked to progress on the Cyprus problem, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday.

Recalling that EU-Türkiye relations are among the topics to be discussed during a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels, Mitsotakis said: “For the moment, I am satisfied with the conclusions we have reached, which recognize the fact that relations between the European Union and Türkiye may progress, but always within the framework of the decisions taken by the European Council in recent years.”

“I welcome the fact that there is an explicit reference linking the progress of EU-Türkiye relations with the progress that can be made on the Cyprus issue,” he added.

Maintaining that the UN Security Council’s related resolutions are the only framework within which the Cyprus problem can be resolved, he said: “We express our expectation that this new effort, which is being made under the new UN envoy, will finally be able to bear fruit.”

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.