By Tom Cleaver
The Cyprus problem will be discussed at a meeting “of the highest level” between the European Union and Turkey before the end of this month, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday, as he arrived for the second day of the European Council summit in Brussels.
“I am pleased because I was informed yesterday that following the meetings we held in New York, the meetings we had with the United Nations Secretary-General, as well as the meetings the heads of the institutions held with the secretary-general, a meeting between the European Union and Turkey will take place within October,” he said.
He added that “two processes” will be discussed at that meeting, the first being “the effort to resume talks” on the Cyprus problem, and the second being “potential progress in relations between the EU and Turkey, which is contingent upon the resumption of talks based on the agreed framework”.
“I am pleased … by the information I received yesterday from the heads of the [European] institutions that such a meeting will take place within October, following a request from the United Nations secretary-general himself, so that we may examine how to create the conditions for the resumption of negotiations,” he said.
That planned meeting, he said, “could create the conditions for positive developments”, particularly in light of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to the island in July.
“Our political will is a given, and I reiterate that the European Union can play a leading role,” he said, having earlier stressed on this front that “from the very first day we assumed the running of the country, and as part of our efforts to resume negotiations, we established the more active, leading involvement of the European Union as a priority”.
To this end, he said that he had been “pleased” when European Commission Vice President for Cohesion Raffaele Fitto was appointed as the commission’s Cyprus problem envoy earlier in the summer, and said that this “clearly demonstrates the European Union’s approach regarding the Cyprus issue”.
Costa, von der Leyen called on Erdogan to ‘seize’ Cyprus ‘momentum’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa most recently met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July, calling upon him to “seize the renewed momentum” to bring about a solution to the Cyprus problem on the side of that month’s Naot leaders’ summit in Ankara.
Later that month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, and Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, signed a joint declaration offering his support for Guterres’ efforts in Cyprus.
However, since the summer, relations between Cyprus’ two sides appear to have deteriorated, with a series of incidents in August and September fraying ties between Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.
In August, the Cyprus Mail was been informed by diplomatic sources at missions in Nicosia last month that the foreign ministry had been telephoning them, telling them not to attend a briefing which was to be given by Erhurman’s undersecretary, Mehmet Dana.
Erhurman had said at the time that “this is something the world needs to see”, while also asking, “does this increase trust, or damage it?”, while the briefing did go ahead and, according to diplomatic sources, was “quite well attended”.
Since then, initiatives have been taken by the Greek Cypriot side to bring about the cancellation of international events being held by the Turkish Cypriot community, including a children’s football camp organised by FC Barcelona and a music festival in Kyrenia.
Holguin warned that ‘window of opportunity’ is closing for Cyprus
Then, after Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci and numerous other speakers, had withdrawn from the Cyprus Forum this week after it changed his title from “mayor” to “leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in Nicosia, the Cyprus Forum’s executive president Nicolas Kyriakides said that the request to do so came from inside the government.
“We … received official requests from officials pointing out that [referring to Harmanci as a mayor] is not accepted by the Greek Cypriot side,” Kyriakides told the Cyprus Mail on Friday.
Following this, a letter was sent by the Republic of Cyprus’ permanent representation to the United Nations urging foreign diplomats in New York not to meet Turkish Cypriots.
This deterioration of relations prompted UN Cyprus envoy Maria Angela Holguin to warn that “it is clear that the favourable window of opportunity we had throughout last year and earlier this year is gradually closing”.
She also warned that “rising tensions in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean could have negative consequences for Cyprus”, and that “the diplomatic space which is allowing for the revival of dialogue may not remain open for ever”.