It is an invitation that Türkiye may automatically reject, but Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides seems to have no choice but to make it anyway. The leader of an entity on the divided island of Cyprus, which is not recognized by Türkiye, announced plans for a summit of regional leaders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to discuss issues related to the Middle East. The summit will follow the Greek Cypriot administration's assumption of rotating EU presidency in the first six months of 2026. Although Erdoğan and Christodoulides came together, often in the presence of other leaders, they never held bilateral talks.
"You can't change geography – Turkey will always be a neighboring state to the 'Republic of Cyprus' ... Mr Erdoğan will, of course, be welcome to this summit to discuss developments in the area," Christodoulides told journalists in Nicosia (Lefkoşa). The Greek Cypriot entity calls itself the "Republic of Cyprus," a designation opposed by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the north, as well as Türkiye. Both insist on the sovereignty of Turkish Cypriots as a separate state, following the collapse of talks over a bicommunal federation.
Christodoulides had earlier made the same statement in a British podcast aired on Monday, in response to a question, confirming that the summit was planned for April 2026. The Turkish Presidency did not immediately respond to the invitation.
The Greek Cypriot administration and Türkiye have no diplomatic relations, and hosting a Turkish president might prove challenging, both due to the diplomatic tightrope arising from past conflicts and logistical issues.
The Eastern Mediterranean island was partitioned after Türkiye, as a guarantor power, launched a Peace Operation in 1974 to aid Turkish Cypriots against attacks by Greek Cypriots. Ankara maintains a Peace Force in the north.
President Erdoğan visited the TRNC last month for a major technology festival organized by a Turkish-based foundation. In a speech there, he reiterated his solidarity with the TRNC in its just cause for achieving sovereign equality on the divided island.
The conflict has long been on the agenda of the U.N., which has kept a peacekeeping force on the island since 1964. In the early 1960s, ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983. The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N.'s “Annan Plan” to end the dispute, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.
“The motherland, Türkiye, will always stand with the TRNC, and our solidarity will last forever. We sincerely desire a fair, lasting, sustainable and realistic solution,” he told reporters in May. “Developments in our region show that this reality should be accepted now. It is time for everybody to accept that the island hosts two peoples and two states. As the motherland and guarantor state, our support to Turkish Cypriots, to their independent state, will prevail. Turkish Cypriot people, an inseparable part of the Turkic world, by God’s will, will reach the point they desired, with the support of our country,” he added.
