European Commission urges Turkey to normalise relations with Cyprus in annual accession report

Nicosia, Cyprus. The European Commission on Wednesday urged Turkey to normalise its relations with the Republic of Cyprus as it published its annual report on Ankara’s progress towards EU membership. Cyprus is referred to 52 times in the document.

Conditions for progress

Turkey has been an official candidate for more than 27 years. According to the report, advancing towards membership requires it to “avoid threats and actions that damage good neighbourly relations”. The Commission also said Ankara must respect the sovereignty of every EU member state over its territorial airspace, as well as those states’ sovereign rights.

Related: Turkey Rejects European Commission Criticism Over Cyprus Policy in Enlargement Report

RelatedTurkey Rejects European Commission Criticism Over Cyprus Policy in Enlargement Report

Recognition and two-state position

The report regrets that Turkey continues to withhold recognition of the Republic of Cyprus. It adds that Ankara has repeatedly promoted a two-state solution on the island, which runs against UN Security Council resolutions on the issue.

On this point the Commission left no room for the softer language Turkey has used since Tufan Erhurman was elected Turkish Cypriot leader a year ago. The report even includes a call for “the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people”.

It further states that Turkey is seeking recognition of the self-declared ‘TRNC’, which no country apart from Turkey recognises internationally, and the establishment of political, diplomatic and economic ties with it. The report notes that the entity has taken part as an observer in the Organisation of Turkic States since 2022.

Military activity

The document devotes considerable attention to Turkish military operations around Cyprus. It says Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles have kept flying in Cyprus’s flight information region and national airspace.

The Commission also reports that Turkey further upgraded its military drone base in Lefkoniko and its naval base in Bogazi. In addition, Ankara temporarily boosted its military presence on the island, including the deployment of F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems, in connection with the Iran war.

The report later states that the Turkish F-16s, which are still at Ercan (Tymbou) airport, were sent in reciprocation of Greek F-16s deployed to Paphos, which also remain in Cyprus. According to the Commission, both sets of aircraft arrived while EU member states and the UK navy were deploying forces to protect Cyprus following the drone attack on the UK bases on the island.

Maritime issues

At sea, the report says there were continuing accounts of Turkey harassing Cypriot fishing vessels and carrying out illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. It adds that Turkey still bars ships flying the flag of the Republic of Cyprus from docking in its ports.