EU tells Turkey to ‘normalise relations’ with Republic of Cyprus

The European Commission on Wednesday called on Turkey to “normalise” its relations with the Republic of Cyprus, as it presented its annual report on the country’s progress towards accession to the European Union. Cyprus was mentioned no fewer than 52 times in the report, which said that in order to make progress towards acceding to the bloc after more than 27 years as an official candidate, Turkey must “avoid threats and actions that damage good neighbourly relations” and “respect the sovereignty of all EU member states over their territorial airspace as well as their sovereign rights”. It lamented that Turkey has “continued to refuse to recognise the Republic of Cyprus” and has “repeatedly advocated for a two-state solution in Cyprus, contrary to UN security council resolutions on this matter”. On this front, it offered no margin to the more watered-down wording which Turkey has offered on the matter since the election of Tufan Erhurman as Turkish Cypriot leader a year ago, including in the report the call for “the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people”. It added that Turkey has also been pursuing “the recognition and … the establishment of political, diplomatic, and economic relations with the so-called, internationally not recognised ‘TRNC’”, which, it pointed out, has been participating as an observer member of the Organisation of Turkic States since 2022. Elsewhere, the report made extensive reference to Turkey’s military operations in Cyprus, saying that “flights of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles in the flight information and national airspace of Cyprus … continued”. Upgrades to bases at Lefkoniko, Bogazi criticised Additionally, it said that Turkey “upgraded further its military drone base in Lefkoniko and naval base in Bogazi”, while also “temporarily [increasing] its military presence” on the island, “including by deploying F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems, in the context of the Iran war”. However, the report did later state that the deployment of the Turkish F-16s, which remain at Ercan (Tymbou) airport to this day, constituted a “reciprocation” of the deployment of Greek F-16s to Paphos, which also remain on the island. The deployment of both the contingents of fighter jets, it said, “took place in the context of the deployment of EU member states and UK navy to protect Cyprus after the drone attack against the UK bases on the island”. In the seas, the report said that “harassment of Cypriot fishing vessels and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities by Turkey continued to be reported”, while at the same time, “Turkey continues to prohibit the docking of vessels flying the flag of the Republic of Cyprus”. Additionally, it said that Turkey refuses to allow vessels “of other nationalities linked to Cyprus through ownership”, vessels “whose last port of call was Cyprus”, and vessels “carrying cargo from Cyprus” to dock at its ports. This, it said, is “incompatible with the full implementation of the EU maritime acquis”. Likewise, the report made reference to a “lack of adequate communication between air traffic control centres in Turkey and Cyprus”, which, it said, “continued to compromise air safety in the Nicosia flight information region”. Turkey ‘continues to insist’ on electricity cable to Cyprus It also offered criticism for Turkey’s decision to sign an agreement with the Turkish Cypriot authorities which foresees the construction of a natural gas pipeline between the Turkish Mediterranean coastal city of Anamur and Cyprus, as well as that Turkey “continues to insist on its plans” for an electricity cable linking Turkey to the island. However, the report did not only contain criticism, and it did acknowledge that Turkey “did not carry out any unauthorised drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean” over the course of the past year. In addition, it pointed out that the number of irregular migrants arriving in Cyprus from Turkey “decreased by almost a third” this year compared to last year. Nonetheless, on the Cyprus problem, it remained unmoved, saying that “the EU remains fully committed to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue within the UN framework, in line with the UN security council resolutions”. “The EU attaches particular importance to the resumption of and progress in the Cyprus settlement talks in further strengthening EU-Turkey cooperation,” it said, before highlighting its choice to appoint Raffaele Fitto as its Cyprus problem envoy earlier this year. Turkey, it said, is “expected to actively support the negotiations on a fair, comprehensive, and viable settlement of the Cyprus issue within the UN framework, in line with the relevant UN security council resolutions, and in line with the principles on which the EU is founded”. By Tom Cleaver in Brussels