Cyprus expressed concern on Thursday that it might not be invited to the UN climate conference in November because of a long-standing dispute with host country Turkey.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Turkish invasion followed a coup in Nicosia backed by Greece’s then-military junta. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognized only by Ankara.
The internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union, controls the island’s majority Greek Cypriot south but is not recognized by Turkey, which will host November’s COP31 conference in the southern city of Antalya.
“We are concerned by information indicating that Turkey intends to invite only 26 EU member states to COP31,” Cyprus Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou said after meeting her counterparts in Luxembourg.
“Since the start of the preparatory meetings hosted by Turkey, Cyprus has not been invited to participate in any of them,” she said.
Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
The EU in May criticized Turkey for excluding Cyprus from a COP31 briefing.
Panayiotou said she expected the EU and member states to support Cyprus.
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Thursday said the bloc’s countries had offered their full solidarity to Cyprus on Thursday in Luxembourg.
© Agence France-Presse