“Unacceptable”. Brussels lashes out at Turkey over 'national sensitivities' over an EU state Ankara does not recognize
Wopke Hoekstra, head of the climate dossier, says Ankara needs to put national sensitivities aside as it hosts COP31 this year.
The European Commission harshly criticized Turkey on Thursday for excluding Cyprus from preparatory meetings for this year's UN climate conference, calling Ankara's behavior “unacceptable”, writes Politico.
The Turkish government – which will host the COP31 summit in Antalya in November – has excluded Cyprus from several informal preparatory meetings in recent months.
Ankara is also refusing or ignoring requests for bilateral meetings sent by Cyprus, despite the fact that Nicosia currently represents all 27 EU governments as it holds the rotating presidency of the European Council in the first half of this year, according to European diplomats.
“It is unacceptable and we will not accept this. Either negotiate with all 27 states or none,” European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the Brussels-based publication on Thursday.
He added: “If you want to host an international event, that overrides any national sensitivities you might have.”
Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus as a sovereign state.
Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state recognized internationally as the only legitimate government of the entire island.
In contrast, Turkey is the only country in the world that recognizes the north of the island, controlled by the Turkish Cypriots, as independent. The island has actually been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded it in response to a Greek-backed coup.
The commission also addressed the issue in a press conference on Thursday.
“We have made it clear that the exclusion of a member state of the United Nations Organization from the preparation process of the UN climate change conference COP31 is not acceptable,” said the spokeswoman of the Community Executive, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
“Turkey has assured us that Cyprus will not be excluded from future COP31 preparatory meetings,” she added.
