The Turkish Cypriot “foreign ministry” has sharply criticised President Nikos Christodoulides over his address to the 81st UN General Assembly, accusing him of “distorting the facts” surrounding the Cyprus issue and making “baseless accusations” against Turkey.
In a statement, the “ministry” claimed that Christodoulides had attempted to “manipulate the international community and global public opinion with lies”, while ignoring what it described as the persecution, forced displacement and serious human rights violations suffered by Turkish Cypriots between 1963 and 1974.
Remarks towards Erdoğan called ‘insolent and rude’
The “foreign ministry” described Christodoulides’ remarks towards Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “insolent and rude”.
It also claimed that the president’s “inappropriate” tone demonstrated what it described as the “irrational behaviour” resulting from the ambitions of the “Greek Cypriot administration”, the term used in the statement to refer to the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
The statement further maintained that, “whatever Christodoulides says, it will not change the fact that there are two separate peoples and two separate states on the island of Cyprus”.
Rejects return to federal negotiations
The “ministry” also criticised Christodoulides’ call for a return to negotiations under the agreed framework.
It claimed that the model had remained unsuccessful because of what it described as the Greek Cypriot side’s “intransigent and maximalist position” and its refusal to recognise the equal status of the breakaway administration in the north.
According to the statement, Christodoulides’ call for renewed negotiations demonstrated an intention to continue benefiting from what it described as the “unfair position” acquired by the “so-called Republic of Cyprus”.
It went on to argue that “the real hypocrisy lies in insisting on the ‘federation’ model”, which it claimed had failed to produce results in the past.
Reiterates ‘two states’ position
The statement said that what it considers the fundamental reality of the Cyprus issue is the existence of “two separate peoples living side by side on the island, as well as two separate, independent and sovereign states”.
It argued that a lasting agreement depends on the international community recognising what the Turkish Cypriot side describes as its “sovereign equality and equal international status”.
The statement said Erdoğan had repeatedly stressed this position, most recently during his address to the UN General Assembly on 23 September 2026.
“Policies that ignore the Turkish Cypriots will continue to be doomed to failure in the future, as they have been in the past,” the “foreign ministry” concluded.
Source: CNA
