Türkiye denies claims it will open ports to Greek Cypriot ships

ANKARA

Türkiye on Monday denied claims that Turkish ports would be open to Greek Cypriot ships in exchange for facilitating EU visas for businesspeople.

“The claims in the Greek Cypriot press that our ports would open to Greek Cypriot ships in exchange for facilitating EU visas for our businesspeople are fictitious,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said on X.

Türkiye objects to the Greek Cypriot Administration posing as the government for the entire island, ignoring its neighbor, the Turkish Cyprus.

In a 2004 referendum, the Greek Cypriot Administration rejected a U.N. plan for uniting the island, just before the administration joined the EU later that year, falsely claiming to represent the entire island.