Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides announced their readiness to "immediately" resume reunification talks over divided Cyprus and called on Türkiye to contribute to the effort.
"We cannot change geography. It is an opportunity, not a curse. Turkey and Cyprus will always remain neighbors," Christodoulides said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
"I adamantly believe we can carve a new path of peace, cooperation and collaboration," he said.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed 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. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute. Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
Reunification talks collapsed in mid-2017 and have been at a stalemate since. Greek Cypriots say the only framework available is that defined by U.N. resolutions calling for reunification under a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
"I am committed and ready to sit at the negotiating table today. Not tomorrow. Today," Christodoulides said.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told the U.N. General Assembly that the federation model "has now completely lost its validity," saying there were "two separate states and two separate peoples" on the island.
"The sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, which are their inherent rights, should be reaffirmed, and the isolation should now come to an end," he said. He later told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that a meeting between the sides under the auspices of the U.N. to discuss models other than a federation could help, his office said.
Perched on the edge of the Middle East, the Cyprus question is now massively overshadowed by the explosive situation of its neighbors. Earlier this year, the island became a bridge for delivering badly needed humanitarian aid to Israel-besieged Gaza in an initiative backed by the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and Israel. It has also offered to assist in evacuating civilians from the region if tensions escalate further.
Yet despite the grim outlook, Christodoulides said he would never accept the linear narrative of a region in turmoil. "I have experienced first-hand what countries in the region can achieve when they come together behind a common vision," he said.
