Pavlos Xanthoulis
An internal document from the Foreign Ministry has put the diplomatic service on high alert. Cypriot missions and embassies are now closely tracking eight areas of EU-Turkey cooperation pushed forward in a recent European Parliament report. The document, obtained by Kathimerini, stresses that these eight dossiers represent core strategic goals for Ankara. It calls for constant monitoring to keep these initiatives bound to European Council rules and conditionality while allowing Cyprus to react swiftly to safeguard its interests.
This internal directive makes it clear that Nicosia feels uneasy about where these policies are heading. Diplomatic teams are gearing up to step in and block progress if Cyprus finds its positions compromised.
Growing cooperation across these eight areas threatens to advance EU-Turkey priorities without forcing Ankara to make real concessions on the Cyprus problem. Diplomatic officials clearly recognize this threat, which is why the ministry's internal memo stresses quick, preventive action.
Political leaders, however, tell a different story. President Christodoulides maintains that EU-Turkey progress remains tied to the island's peace talks. That claim falls flat in light of the recent, unsuccessful push by Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa during their talks with Tayyip Erdogan. Similar efforts also failed when Maria Angela Holguin met with Hakan Fidan, and when Antonio Guterres called Ankara. Those outreach efforts yielded only the bare minimum: Erdogan's regime tolerated the idea of an undated, conditional 5+1 multilateral conference announced by the outgoing UN Secretary-General, though the chances of it actually happening remain slim.
Kathimerini's sources confirm that the ministry document lists all eight joint initiatives and orders continuous tracking to protect national interests:
• A Connectivity Agenda spanning energy, transport, digital networks, and public exchanges. This includes the Middle Corridor linking Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia as an alternative transit route, along with the Black Sea Ring Highway and regional rail links supported by dialogue with Armenia. European Commission delegates already presented this agenda to Turkey during a recent trip to Ankara focused on enlargement and migration.
• Extending the EU's "Roam Like At Home" system to Turkey.
• Evaluating Turkey's inclusion in SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area.
• Expanding Turkish participation in the Horizon Europe science program and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
• Modernizing the EU-Turkey Customs Union to cover the digital economy, public procurement, the green transition, and supply chains. President Christodoulides sees this dossier as a key piece of leverage that could draw Turkey back to the negotiating table.
• Fast-tracking visa procedures and continuing talks on complete visa elimination. Ankara already secured broader visa access for its citizens, excluding truck drivers, back in July 2025. Turkish nationals can now obtain multi-entry European visas valid for up to five years.
• Opening the Turkey Investment Platform and boosting European Investment Bank funding for Global Gateway and Green Deal projects.
• Reciprocal access to public contracts, allowing European firms into Turkish government procurement while opening EU public contracts to Turkish companies. This step links directly to the EU's Industrial Accelerator Act and its "Made in Europe" local-sourcing provisions.
Beyond these eight points, the foreign ministry memo reviews the positive findings in the European Parliament's June 17 report on Turkey. It points out that the report calls for a Cyprus settlement based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation under UN auspices, rejects Turkey's demand for a two-state solution, demands the withdrawal of Turkish troops, and calls for the return of Varosha. The report also insists that Ankara fulfill all outstanding obligations toward the EU regarding Cyprus.
At the same time, the European Parliament report acknowledges Turkey's strategic importance in managing migration, addressing the war in Ukraine, and handling regional crises. Addressing that point, the Cypriot memo suggests the EU is not walking away from Turkey, but rather repositioning the relationship under strict conditions.
Pushing for a process, not a solution
When Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa met with Tayyip Erdogan and Hakan Fidan, the Commission President spoke only about pushing forward on the Cyprus issue. She did not condition EU-Turkey files on an actual solution, choosing instead to encourage general progress toward a settlement. In practice, European pressure on Ankara stops at encouraging diplomatic activity rather than demanding a concrete result or setting specific terms, even though von der Leyen later reaffirmed support for the UN process on social media. Ankara rejected any connection between the two issues anyway, treating its EU relationship as completely separate and viewing Cyprus as a matter between two sovereign entities.
A warning from diplomats that political leaders ignore
Despite clear warnings in the June 25 foreign ministry memo to protect Cyprus' interests against these eight joint projects, political leaders in Nicosia choose to ignore the reality on the ground.
Rather than admitting the danger of these programs moving ahead without progress on Cyprus, the administration continues to promote an unfounded story about a firm link between EU-Turkey files and peace negotiations. If President Christodoulides had truly secured that connection, the foreign ministry would not need internal memos telling diplomats to monitor these files and step in when necessary.
Furthermore, President Christodoulides would not have needed to ask Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa to use their limited influence in Ankara to pitch the mutual benefits of progress on Cyprus. That European effort achieved little because Ankara views its relationship with Brussels as independent of the island's division, while insisting that peace talks remain strictly between two equal, sovereign communities.
As reported by Kathimerini's economic edition, Ankara has gone a step further. Turkish officials insist that the EU's only proper role in Cyprus is lifting the island's northern community out of isolation and fulfilling commitments made back in April 2004. The Turkish Foreign Ministry recently cited EU Council conclusions from 22 years ago pledging to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community.
Turkish representatives have delivered this message directly to Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto and other top EU officials, demanding progress on direct trade, direct flights, and direct relations for northern Cyprus.
Tufan Erhurman expressed similar demands as he prepares to tour EU capitals to push the issue of Turkish Cypriot isolation back to the top of the European agenda.
