Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Wednesday confirmed that he has been invited to next month’s Cop31 climate summit, which will take place in the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya.
“We received an invitation from the president of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan … We will be in Antalya,” he said.
He added that he has “learned from the press” that President Nikos Christodoulides “has also announced that he will be there, as is customary”.
“As we always say, diplomacy and dialogue are always beneficial,” he said.
Christodoulides on Tuesday night had said that he will “of course” attend the summit, adding that “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”.
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.
While Turkey does not recognise Christodoulides as a head of state, a host country does not have the right to unilaterally exclude any United Nations member state from the negotiations which take place during the 12-day summit.