Turkey refused the participation of the Republic of Cyprus in the proceedings of the Annual Conference of the United Nations on climate change (COP31), with the incident causing strong reactions at the European level.
The conference took place on March 27 at UN headquarters, with Turkey serving as the presiding country. However, the Republic of Cyprus was excluded from the process, without being given a seat in the hall, where Turkey’s Minister of Environment and Urbanization, Murat Kurum, presided.
Turkey: EU reaction and Ankara’s position
The European Union condemned Cyprus’s exclusion in a subsequent UN session on the occasion of Global Zero Waste Day, expressing “serious concern.” It also reminded that all UN member states enjoy equal recognition and participation in the Organization’s procedures, according to the principle of sovereign equality and full inclusion.
For its part, Turkey defended its stance, invoking its long-standing policy of non-recognition of the Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish representative described the EU’s intervention as “off-topic,” accusing it of not maintaining a balanced stance on the Cyprus issue. As she argued, the specific COP31 meeting was not held under official UN mandate and, therefore, sending invitations was at the discretion of the organizing country, which only invited states recognized by Ankara.
