The dispute within Disy over the appointment of Nicos Tornaritis as the president’s special envoy for the Cyprus problem has moved from party offices to parliament. Famagusta MP and chairman of the House energy committee Nicos Georgiou submitted a nine-point question to Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on 22 September, six days after the cabinet approved the appointment. Tornaritis, a long-standing Disy figure, now serves as the President of the Republic’s Special Political Envoy for the Cyprus problem to countries in Asia and Africa, a role that has divided the party since September. Georgiou asked what need led to the creation of the post when the Republic of Cyprus already has a foreign ministry and a network of embassies, whether the minister himself had been consulted and what he had recommended, how many other special envoys the president has appointed and why the need for outreach to Asia and Africa was not identified in the government’s first year. He also asked for the proposal approved by the cabinet to be submitted to parliament, since the government spokesman had spoken publicly of specific planning for the two continents.
From the Presidential Palace to Disy headquarters
The appointment drew reactions within Disy from the very first day. Vice President Yiannis Karousos said no one should be “at the Presidential Palace in the morning and at Pindarou at noon”, a reference to the party’s headquarters, and called for the participation in party bodies of officials who accept government appointments to be discussed at the political bureau. According to media reports, Diko also intended to seek explanations from the president over the choice. Tornaritis responded that he had informed the party leadership the day after accepting the post and that he does not consider a role on the Cyprus problem to be equivalent to participation in government. “I am no longer a Disy official. I have been a Disy supporter since childhood,” he said, adding that the party should not exclude Nikos Christodoulides from its thinking ahead of 2028. In 2023, Tornaritis had already stated that he voted for the current president in the second round as a matter of conscience.
The envoy in the battle for the nomination
In the weeks that followed, Tornaritis did not confine himself to diplomacy. In mid-October, on Chrysanthos Tsouroullis’ podcast Uncensored, he took aim at Averof Neophytou, returning to the former Disy leader’s remark about a “marked deck of cards”. On 16 October, shortly after the press conference at which Neophytou called for a review of energy sanctions against Russia, Tornaritis issued a lengthy written statement asking whether the proposal also reflected the views of Disy’s current leadership. Karousos, for his part, had made clear that his criticism concerns officials with an institutional role in the party and not ordinary Disy voters who chose Christodoulides at the last elections.
The ministry’s answer cites the importance of briefing Asian and African states on the Cyprus problem and on Turkey’s moves, noting that many of them are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. On the choice of person, it points to Tornaritis’ 13 years as head of the Cypriot delegation to the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, where he was elected vice president, and to his tenure as head of the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The envoy will act in a complementary capacity, under the guidance of the foreign minister and without remuneration, the ministry said, adding that preparations for his first visits are already under way.
