The EU on May 28 said it was “not acceptable” that Türkiye excluded Greek Cyprus from a recent briefing at the United Nations in New York about the COP31 climate conference.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish military operation followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Ankara.
Greek Cyprus is not recognized by Türkiye, which will host November’s COP31 conference in the southern city of Antalya.
“We have made it clear that the exclusion of a United Nations member state from the preparation process of the U.N. COP31 climate conference is not acceptable,” EU spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels.
“Türkiye has assured us that [Greek] Cyprus would not be excluded from future preparatory meetings for COP31,” she said, adding the EU was also in contact with the U.N on the matter.
