Kaymakçı: “I don’t think the Greek Cypriots are sincere about improving relations”

The Permanent Delegate of Türkiye to the EU, Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı, gave a speech on ‘The future of EU-Türkiye relations’ at the EU-Türkiye Business Summit organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board and European Business Summit in Brussels.

He said, “The Cyprus issue was not a condition for the commencement of Customs Union modernisation negotiations. However, unfortunately, the Greek Cypriots subsequently abused their veto rights and are now attempting to present this as a condition.”

Reminding that the Greek Cypriots have blocked Turkish Foreign Minister’s participation in informal EU Foreign Ministers meetings, known as Gymnich meetings, despite ongoing crises including the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in Gaza, and developments in Libya, Syria and the South Caucasus, Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı said “I don’t think the Greek Cypriots are sincere about improving relations. Their real intention is to impose their narrow-minded, ultra-nationalist, maximalist attitudes. They claim this is the EU’s position, which is not true, but this actually drags us into perhaps a more complex relationship.”

He added that Türkiye has contributed to 19 EU common security and defence policy missions but now faces Greek Cypriot obstruction of its participation in several key initiatives. These include the PESCO military mobility project, associate membership of the European Defence Agency, and the European Security Action Plan, known as SAFE.