Brussels, Belgium. The European Union has criticised Turkey for excluding Cyprus from two COP31 preparatory meetings, with EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra saying all 27 member states must be treated equally. Cyprus said at a meeting of EU climate ministers on Thursday that it had not been invited to meetings in New York and Tokyo ahead of the climate summit in November.
EU response
Hoekstra said he had communicated to the United Nations and Turkey’s EU embassy that excluding Cyprus was unacceptable and that the bloc’s solidarity extended across all member states.
“There are 27 member states that need to be treated in the same way,” he told a press conference on Thursday. “This is a Union of 27, full stop.”
Turkey’s position
Turkey does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government and is the only country that recognises the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in the north of the island.
Ankara said Cyprus had been invited to all COP31-related events coordinated by the United Nations, including meetings in Bonn and Petersburg, but not to events organised independently by Turkey at national level, such as a Zero Waste event in New York.
A Turkish diplomatic source said the contacts and meetings conducted by Turkey ahead of COP31 were national-level events organised for preparation, consultation and promotion purposes. The source added that the official invitation process for the COP31 Leaders’ Summit had not yet begun and that no invitations had been sent to any party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Concerns over Leaders’ Summit
Cyprus is also concerned it could be excluded from the Leaders’ Summit at COP31, which Turkey as host would organise, environment minister Maria Panayiotou said.
Poland’s deputy climate minister Krzysztof Bolesta said some EU countries might consider not attending the summit in solidarity if Cyprus were excluded.
“If Cyprus is unfairly treated… we should not be going to Turkey,” he said.
Irish climate minister Darragh O’Brien said the matter could be resolved through dialogue.
“Full solidarity with Cyprus. This situation doesn’t need to escalate,” he told Reuters.
COP31 hosting arrangement
Turkey will host COP31 while Australia will run the UN negotiations at the centre of the conference, under an arrangement agreed after both countries bid to host the summit.
Turkey cannot exclude any country from the UN negotiations themselves, but Ankara is preparing side events and agreements for the summit.
