Nicosia hailed as “significant” the joint statement issued by EU officials and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, which expressed “support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General” on the Cyprus issue. CNA sources described as “significant” the references in the joint statement to backing the UN Secretary-General’s efforts on the Cyprus problem, as well as to the importance of regional stability. The “significant” statement was issued last Tuesday by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, together with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. It came after the three European officials’ visit to Ankara.
The statement is not insignificant. But why the excitement over its supposed “importance”? As far as the Turkish side is concerned, we heard exactly the same support for the UN Secretary-General’s efforts barely a fortnight ago, when the Turkish Foreign Minister met in Ankara with the Secretary-General’s own envoy, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar — the very person leading this effort.
Hakan Fidan said then that “Turkey supports the efforts of UN Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the Cyprus issue”. That was in Ankara, on 15 June 2026. Did we get excited because the European Union is now backing the UN Secretary-General’s efforts alongside Turkey? It would be naive to believe there was even the faintest chance that the EU would not support the United Nations’ efforts on Cyprus. We have been asking for a more active EU role in the Cyprus issue until we are blue in the face. And our European friends have been repeating, until they are blue in the face too, that they simply support the United Nations’ efforts.
What was missing from the Cyprus issue — and appears to remain missing — was never Turkey’s or Europe’s support for the UN Secretary-General’s initiative. What is missing was laid out by Guterres’s personal envoy in her almost dramatic public intervention the other day. After speaking positively about Athens and Ankara — “our discussions were frank, clear and focused on the areas and initiatives on which everyone must work...” — Ms Holguín turned to the two sides in Cyprus and urged them to come to their senses. The United Nations, she said, is looking for “the next steps that will persuade both sides to move towards concrete action for a definitive solution...” Then she added: “I sincerely hope that Cypriots will seize this historic opportunity to negotiate a lasting solution this time.” Cypriots, she said. Not Turks. Not Greeks. Not Europeans.
Cypriots. Which Cypriots, exactly? That is worth thinking about.
