Cypriot leaders attend bicommunal festival amid renewed push

LARNACA

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman (R) and Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides greet each other at the annual bicommunal festival in the village of Pyla, Oct. 17, 2026.

The leaders of ethnically-divided Cyprus attended an annual bicommunal festival in the village of Pyla late on Oct. 17, marking a symbolic step as diplomatic efforts to resolve the island’s long-standing issues are ongoing.

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman attended the event wearing a neck brace due to a recurrence of a cervical disc herniation but made no public remarks.

Seated alongside Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Erhürman also joined in the folk dancing at the festival.

The event, aimed at fostering cultural ties and dialogue between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, was also attended by Turkish Cyprus’ Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Greek Cypriot left-wing party AKEL.

Pyla, known as Pile among Turkish Cypriots, is one of the few villages in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone that continues to host both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. The peace festival returned this year after a six-year hiatus.

“We are conveying a message of peaceful coexistence and underscoring the need to reunify our homeland once and for all,” Christodoulides said.

He added that, as he had recently told the Turkish Cypriot press, the island would undoubtedly be reunified if the decision rested solely with the two communities.

The Greek Cypriot leader also appeared to take an indirect swipe at the other side over the failure to reach agreement on a U.N. proposal concerning the opening of additional crossing points. He said U.N. envoy Maria Angela Holguin knew which side had immediately accepted the proposal and which had rejected it, without explicitly identifying either party.

Asked whether joint appearances with Erhürman at festivals and other events could become a regular feature, Christodoulides said he supported making such engagements routine, adding that this was precisely why he had attended the festival.

According to the media, Erhürman chose not to respond to Christodoulides’ remarks in order to preserve the positive atmosphere of the event.

Beyond their appearance at the festival, the two leaders are expected to attend upcoming meetings of the bicommunal technical committees on cultural heritage and youth, as well as the steering committee of the civil society consultative body. The two previously agreed to meet once a week.

Speaking to reporters on the second day of the European Council summit in Brussels on Oct. 16, Christodoulides said the Cyprus issue would be discussed at a high-level meeting between the European Union and Türkiye scheduled to take place by the end of October.

Erhürman and Christodoulides are both expected to attend the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP31), which will be held in Turkish city of Antalya in November.

In a statement issued on Oct. 14, Erhürman announced that he had received an invitation to the summit from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and would be in Antalya on the scheduled dates. Christodoulides confirmed his attendance in a statement a day earlier.

Erhürman said he had learned through the media that Christodoulides would also attend the summit, adding: “As we have always said, diplomacy and dialogue are always good.”

It remains unclear whether the two leaders will meet on the sidelines of COP31.