28/04/2026
My response to the article publishe inThe European Union wrapped up a two-day summit in Cyprus on Friday without Turkey at the table, as EU leaders held talks with Middle Eastern partners on Iran, regional security, energy, and freedom of navigation.
The summit, held April 23 and 24 across Nicosia and Agia Napa, brought together EU member state leaders alongside representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Topics covered included the Iran conflict, maritime security, energy prices, and Europe's broader defense posture. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not invited, according to an EU official who spoke to Euractiv.
The venue itself made Erdogan's attendance virtually impossible politically. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey intervened militarily following a coup aimed at union with Greece. Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus as a legitimate government, recognizing instead the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which no other country in the world acknowledges.
Some analysts and commentators argued the EU made a strategic miscalculation by excluding Turkey, a NATO member that shares borders with Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and holds influence across the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caucasus. Others pushed back, saying Turkey's absence was a direct consequence of the unresolved Cyprus dispute, not a deliberate diplomatic snub.
The exclusion came just days after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned Europe against falling under "Russian, Turkish or Chinese influence," a comment that drew sharp criticism from Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the remark "unfortunate" but said the matter had since been addressed through diplomatic channels.
The episode highlights the deep contradiction at the heart of EU-Turkey relations. Brussels relies on Ankara on migration, energy, and NATO security, while the Cyprus dispute, Turkey's stalled EU accession process, and ongoing maritime tensions in the Aegean keep the relationship perpetually strained.
regarding the EU meeting held in South Cyprus.
EU is continuing with it's "double standars policy". The establihment agreements states: "Cyprus cannot enter into any international body that Turkiye and Greece are not members at the same time.EU's biggest and biased mistake was admitting the Greek dominated government of South Cyprus as a member of the Union after the UN sponsored referandum that the Greek Cypriot side rejected almost unanimously.
South Cyprus has become a colony of Greece following the failed attempt to Unite the island with Greece in 15th June Greek engineered coup against Makarios.