Pavlos Xanthoulis
Does anyone still doubt that Cyprus is the navel of the world? That everything revolves around our President, who proclaimed he was in constant contact with Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, insisting that the two EU leaders would raise the Cyprus issue with their host, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the sidelines of the NATO summit?
This was the same summit that Donald Trump said he attended for one reason only, because Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had invited him. A man, Trump said, whom he respects and considers a friend. He declared that US-Turkey relations are in their best shape yet while promising F-35 fighter jets and engines for Turkey's Kaan combat aircraft. As Trump repeatedly pointed out, he had not come to see the Europeans, especially not the Germans, the French, the Italians, or the Spaniards, who, in his view, failed to support him during the Iran conflict. To keep the European Union on edge, he once again floated the prospect of distancing the United States from NATO while also repeating Washington's claims over Greenland.
The images of Trump and Erdoğan told a very different story. The Turkish president personally went to the aircraft stairs to greet his American counterpart, making a highly symbolic gesture that broke with diplomatic protocol. He repeatedly took Trump by the hand while Trump praised Erdoğan, who could hardly have looked happier. The chemistry between the two men was impossible to miss, and neither side appeared interested in hiding it. Each had its own reasons.
That very public display of rapport was Erdoğan's biggest gain from the summit. It was matched only by the steady stream of EU officials who have traveled to Turkey in recent weeks, each with a very specific agenda. At the risk of disappointing our President, the main objective of Kaja Kallas, Marta Kos, Magnus Brunner, Ursula von der Leyen, and Antonio Costa was not to corner Erdoğan into resolving the Cyprus problem on terms favorable to us. Their priority was to make sure Mr. Trump did not blow NATO apart at the Ankara summit. More importantly, they wanted to ensure that the American president's friend, Mr. Erdoğan, would be willing to help fill the security gap created by Trump's partial retreat from Europe's defense umbrella.
That was the concern occupying von der Leyen and Costa, who reportedly found an Erdoğan too tired even to engage with them and instead referred them to Hakan Fidan. According to information obtained by Kathimerini, Turkey's foreign minister explained to the European officials that EU-Turkey relations are not linked to the Cyprus issue. As a result, the European Union should move forward with its EU-Turkey agenda before expecting any steps from Ankara on Cyprus.
None of this came as a surprise. We have been writing about it for weeks, pointing to the "red lights" Erdoğan had switched on, lights that, for reasons difficult to explain, our President seemed determined to see as green. What should be even more obvious, and what President Christodoulides himself ought to recognize, is the attitude of the very EU officials in whom he continues to place his hopes. The President of the European Commission described EU-Turkey cooperation as strategic and said it was "more important than ever." When it came to Cyprus, she limited herself to calling for the current opportunity to be used to advance a solution through the UN process. Not to achieve a settlement, simply to advance one. That is also what she told Erdoğan. She asked for a simple gesture that would move the process forward, not for him to resolve the Cyprus problem on our behalf.
As long as Nicosia continues to build castles in the air, creating the impression that we are the navel of the world and that the European Union will somehow compel Erdoğan to resolve the Cyprus issue within the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, we face an equally great risk of crashing back to reality once those illusions disappear.
That is, if we ever wake up.
Note: The Europeans' diplomatic "massage" of Trump did pay off when it came to NATO. Defense spending for 2026 increased by €258 billion, and by the end of the Ankara summit the American president said he had seen "love and unity" within the alliance.
