Turkey’s Fidan, EU commissioners, offer joint support for UN Cyprus initiative

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and three members of the European Union’s college of commissioners late on Wednesday night offered their joint support for the “new initiative” being undertaken by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with the aim of bringing about a resumption of talks on the Cyprus problem. The joint statement was signed by the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissionjer Marta Kos, and Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, after all three had travelled to Ankara ahead of next week’s Nato leaders’ summit, which is due to take place in the Turkish capital city. According to the statement, the four had discussed relations between the EU and Turkey “in a global perspective”, and highlighted both Turkey’s status as a candidate for accession to the bloc and the “strategic value” of relations between the EU and Turkey “in promoting regional stability and economic resilience in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape”. “They reviewed issues of common interest including economic and trade cooperation, connectivity, migration, security, and common challenges in foreign and security policy,” it added. Related Articles • UN’s Diagne meets Turkey’s Bozay as Cyprus problem efforts ramp up • Cyprus problem efforts not ‘frozen’, Christodoulides says • Kallas: Cyprus problem progress could help solve other problems • Androulla Vassiliou warns against speculation on Cyprus talks • Erhurman meets predecessors as Cyprus problem efforts ramp up • Guterres, Erdogan discuss Cyprus Additionally, it said, they “reaffirmed the shared determination to take steps that would further enhance the cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship in these areas”, and “agreed on the importance of regional stability and good neighbourly relations”. It added that as such, they “voiced support to the efforts [being undertaken] by [Guterres] on the Cyprus issue”. The statement comes with efforts ramping up on all sides with the aim of bringing about a resumption of negotiations in earnest on the Cyprus problem. On this front, Tuesday also saw UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) chief Khassim Diagne meet Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Kemal Bozay and Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos hold a telephone call with the United Kingdom’s minister of state for Europe Stephen Doughty. Next week’s Nato summit, too, could play a role in that ramping up of efforts, given that it will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and attended by the leaders of Cyprus’ other two guarantor powers, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. While Cyprus is not expected to top next week’s agenda, the summit will take place with discussions regarding security guarantees in a post-solution Cyprus centring on the idea of those guarantees being provided through a Nato-based structure. Those guarantees may come in the form of the new Cypriot republic’s accession to Nato, alongside the presence of Nato troops from Turkey, Greece, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States on the island. UN envoy for the Cyprus problem Maria Angela Holguin, meanwhile, postponed her planned contacts until after the conclusion of the Nato summit, with her next meeting, with European Council President Antonio Costa in Brussels, now scheduled for July 13. However, when questioned on the prospect of Holguin meeting Nato officials while in Brussels, which is also the seat of Nato’s headquarters, and of Nato-based security guarantees in a post-solution Cyprus, a Nato official told the Cyprus Mail that “there are no meetings planned with the envoy and the topic has not been discussed at Nato”. The family photo taken at last year’s Nato summit in the Hague, attended by Erdogan, Mitsotakis, Starmer, and others, including European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen [Reuters] Nonetheless, Tuesday night’s joint statement constitutes further evidence that interested parties in Cyprus appear to be converging on support for the current effort being undertaken, with Kallas having said on Monday that “achieving a peaceful solution to the Cyprus issue would open the door to resolving many problems”. She added that the EU and Turkey should “also address the Cyprus issue”, and said that both sides should “support the mediation and negotiation efforts” being undertaken by Guterres. Likewise, high-level sources had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that Erdogan had green-lit the “new initiative” being undertaken by the UN. The sources said that Turkey’s support of both the 2004 referendum and the 2017 negotiations, both of which were rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, constitute evidence of Erdogan’s “pragmatic and constructive stance” and “will to engage in the hope of securing a solution to the Cyprus problem”. Holguin is expected to return to Cyprus in the second half of this month to hold more meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, with a view to organising an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, involving the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, and the UN. That meeting had initially been pencilled in for the end of this month or the beginning of August, but will now likely take place later in August at the earliest.