The European Commission has condemned Turkey's exclusion of Cyprus from a preparatory briefing for the COP31 UN climate conference, calling it unacceptable, and said it has received assurances from Ankara that the incident will not be repeated.
"The exclusion of a United Nations member state from the preparatory process of the UN COP31 climate conference is not acceptable," Commission climate spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on Thursday, responding to a question from the Cyprus News Agency at the midday briefing for accredited journalists in Brussels. She added that Turkey had since assured the Commission that "Cyprus will not be excluded from future preparatory meetings for COP31."
Cyprus was denied a seat in the meeting room during a session held at UN headquarters on 27 March, chaired by Turkey's Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum. The EU condemned the exclusion during a subsequent UN session marking International Zero Waste Day, stressing that all UN member states are entitled to equal recognition and participation in UN processes.
The issue carries particular diplomatic weight because Cyprus currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, meaning it acts as the bloc's neutral representative in multilateral processes. Its exclusion has created a diplomatic headache for Brussels in the run-up to the climate talks, with Turkey also refusing bilateral meeting requests sent by Nicosia on behalf of the EU. EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra raised the matter directly with Turkish officials.
Turkey has rejected the criticism, asserting that the March meeting was not a UN-mandated event and that it was therefore at the discretion of the organiser to issue invitations. Turkish officials reiterated Ankara's longstanding position on the Cyprus problem, arguing that it is under no obligation to invite an entity it does not recognise diplomatically.
Itkonen noted that the Republic of Cyprus is a UN member state and a party to both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and confirmed that the Commission is also in contact with the United Nations and with Australia, which holds the presidency of negotiations for COP31, on the matter. "We have confidence that the COP31 process will be transparent and inclusive, will include all UN member states as well as parties to the Paris Agreement, and we will continue to monitor this issue closely," she said.
COP31 is scheduled to take place at the Antalya Expo Center in Turkey from 9 to 20 November 2026. In an unusual arrangement, Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen will preside over negotiations while Turkey hosts the summit, following a compromise reached after both countries competed to host the conference.
Source: CNA
