President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday stressed that he will attend the Cop31 climate summit, which will take place in the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya next month, despite Turkey not recognising him as a head of state.
“Of course I will attend. The Republic of Cyprus always attends these summits. I am pleased that, thanks to the decisive contribution of our partners, and following our diplomatic and political efforts conducted away from the public eye, we have achieved a result,” he said.
He then stressed that “we have done so without fanfare or publicity”, and that his invite “is a development which also sends messages regarding the Cyprus problem”.
Asked whether he may also be expecting “unpleasant surprises” during the summit, he said that “we are preparing for any eventuality, and I must tell you that we do not rule one out”.
“At the same time, there will also be reactions from the Republic of Cyprus’ side, a member state of the European Union, of the EU which has 27 member states,” he said.
Turkey has been designated as a co-host for the summit, alongside Australia, with Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum designated as the chairman of Cop31 and Australian Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen set to preside over negotiations between political leaders at the Antalya summit.
A host country does not have the right to unilaterally exclude any United Nations member state from the negotiations, but it is expected that a series of other events and agreements will be held and reached during the 12-day event in November.
Earlier in the year, news website Politico quoted diplomats as having said that Turkey did not invite Cyprus to a Cop31 briefing in New York, and then objected when Cypriots attempted to attend the briefing alongside the EU’s delegation.
Sources said ‘Ankara is under no obligation to invite an entity it does not recognise’
At the time, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet had reported that Turkish officials had “rejected the criticism, asserting that Ankara is under no obligation to invite an entity it does not recognise diplomatically”.
The newspaper added that Turkey “reiterated its longstanding position on the Cyprus issue, emphasising that Greek Cyprus does not represent the entirety of the island”.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted Turkish diplomatic sources as having said that Cypriot delegations had been invited to “all Cop31-related events under the coordination of the UN”.
Those sources, it reported, had said that the New York briefing had been organised by the Turkish government independently of the Cop structure.
“The various contacts and meetings conducted by our country in the lead-up to Cop31 are events organised at the national level for purposes of preparation, consultation, and promotion,” the sources are quoted as having said.
Nonetheless, European Climate Commissioner Wokpe Hoekstra was keen to set his stall out as early as June, warning at the time that “we are not going to accept” the prospect of Cyprus not being invited to the summit.
“The full solidarity of the other 26 will apply,” he said, in reference to the EU’s 26 other member states, adding that “there are 27 member states that need to be treated in the same way”, and that “this is a union of 27, full stop”.
Likewise, Poland’s secretary of state for climate affairs Krysztof Bolesta said that “if Cyprus is unfairly treated, we should not be going to Turkey”, while Irish Climate Minister Darragh O’Brien told Reuters that his country stands in “full solidarity with Cyprus”, and that “this situation doesn’t need to escalate”.