By Kate Abnett and Tuvan Gumrukcu
LUXEMBOURG, June 26 (Reuters) – The European Union has rebuked Turkey for excluding Cyprus from preparations for this year’s U.N. climate summit, as diplomatic tensions mount over the issue ahead of the global climate talks.
Turkey will host the COP31 climate summit in November, where nearly 200 countries will gather for their annual talks on how to address global warming.
At a meeting of EU climate ministers on Thursday, Cyprus said it had not been invited by Turkey to two preparatory meetings for COP31, in New York and Tokyo.
Turkish officials confirmed to Reuters that Cyprus had not been invited to COP31-related events organised by Turkey. The Turkish foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Turkey does not recognize the Greek Cypriot government in the south of the ethnically split island of Cyprus and is the only government in the world to recognize the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in the north.
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said EU countries had agreed “that we’re not going to accept” Turkey’s behaviour.
“The full solidarity the other 26 (EU member countries) will apply,” Hoekstra told a press conference late on Thursday, adding that he had communicated to the U.N. and Turkey’s EU embassy that excluding Cyprus was “unacceptable”.
“There are 27 member states that need to be treated in the same way… this is a Union of 27, full stop.”
Turkey will host the COP31 summit, while Australia will run the U.N. negotiations that are the centrepiece of the conference – an unusual arrangement, agreed after both countries bid to host it.
Turkey cannot exclude a country from the U.N. negotiations at COP31. But Ankara is preparing a raft of side deals and events at the summit – including a global electricity target, backed by the EU.
Cyprus is also concerned it will be excluded from the part of COP31 attended by world leaders, environment minister Maria Panayiotou said – which, as host, Turkey would organise.
If that happens, some EU countries may consider skipping COP31 in solidarity. “If Cyprus is unfairly treated… we should not be going to Turkey,” Poland’s deputy climate minister Krzysztof Bolesta said.
Cyprus currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, which involves running EU countries’ COP31 preparations, until Ireland takes over the role next month.
Irish climate minister Darragh O’Brien told Reuters the situation could be resolved through dialogue with Turkey. “Full solidarity with Cyprus. This situation doesn’t need to escalate,” he said.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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