Published On 14/11/2025
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Last update: 23:05 (Mecca time)
Cyprus said on Friday that Türkiye must abandon its insistence on a two-state solution for the divided island if it hopes to make progress in its long-stalled bid to join the European Union.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said in a joint press conference in Berlin after talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Türkiye’s position on Cyprus constitutes an obstacle to its ambitions in the European Union.
He stressed that Ankara should not have access to the bloc’s defense fund, adding that Turkey does not have a defense or security agreement with the bloc despite being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Mertz said that Christodoulides sought Germany’s support in efforts to break the impasse over Cyprus, stressing Berlin’s strong relationship with Ankara.
Mertz added, in the same press conference, we discussed several options for how to achieve this… We discussed a very specific proposal, and I received it with interest, and we can take a step in this direction during the Cyprus presidency (of the bloc). She expressed the German government’s readiness to participate effectively in this process.
Cyprus will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union in January. There are no diplomatic relations between Cyprus and Turkey, which has been a candidate to join the European Union for decades.
Since 1974, Cyprus has been suffering from a division between the Turkish halves in the north and the Roman halves in the south, after a Greek-backed military coup followed by Turkish intervention.
In 2004, the Greek Cypriots rejected a plan presented by the United Nations to unify the two parts of the island.
Since the collapse of the Cyprus reunification talks that took place in Switzerland under the auspices of the United Nations in July 2017, no formal UN-brokered negotiations have taken place to settle the conflict on the island.
It is still divided into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north, recognized only by Ankara.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, Thursday, that the two-state solution is the most realistic option to settle the Cyprus problem, a position rejected by the Greek Cypriots.
“If Mr. Erdogan insists on two states in Cyprus, Türkiye certainly cannot approach the European Union,” Christodoulides said.
He added: “What is important is that the European Union and the international community, whatever Mr. Erdogan says, (reach) a solution based on UN Security Council resolutions.”