Erhurman urges realism on Cyprus talks, warns against island’s militarisation

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman assured on Monday that diplomatic engagement on the Cyprus problem has resumed but warned that expectations of a rapid breakthrough are unrealistic.

Speaking to Turkish media, Erhurman said negotiations between the two sides continue at a technical level and have not stopped despite the absence of high profile political developments.

“Negotiators continue to meet weekly and the talks have not been interrupted,” he said.

Erhurman referred to the recent visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Ankara, where he was awarded the Ataturk international peace prize by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He said the award itself had long been planned and should not be interpreted as a sign of new diplomatic developments connected directly to the Cyprus issue.

Erhurman also addressed the meeting between Guterres and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, cautioning against attaching excessive significance to the encounter.

“As can be seen in Antonio Guterres’ statement, there is diplomatic activity,” Erhurman said.

“It is not like the situation before our elections.”

He added that wider regional tensions have affected the diplomatic environment and slowed momentum around the issue.

“In fact, if a state of war had not arisen, this activity could have accelerated even more,” he said, referring to the instability ushered in by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Erhurman warned that public expectations of a rapid resolution to the Cyprus problem fail to recognise the complexity of negotiations and the long history of stalled attempts to reach a settlement.

“Expecting that everything will suddenly fall into place in four months may mean that we do not understand very well the logic of diplomacy and negotiation processes,” he remarked.

Beyond the negotiations themselves, he also criticised the growing network of defence agreements concluded by the republic with foreign partners.

He said he had been warning about the consequences of these policies for several years and maintained that the expansion of military partnerships in the Levant creates additional sensitivities.

“You look at the map, and you can no longer find the sea in the south because of all this armament,” he said.

According to Erhurman, cooperation between the republic and countries including France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece increases the strategic exposure of the island and risks drawing Cyprus deeper into wider geopolitical tensions.

He argued that the island’s location in a volatile region means security decisions taken by one side inevitably affect the other community as well.

Erhurman unequivocally rejected suggestions that his criticism of these policies reflects a confrontational tone towards the republic, insisting that his approach remains focused on reasoned dialogue.

“I use the language of peace, but I will also use the language of reason,” he said.

He said he faces pressure from some political circles to adopt stronger rhetoric but believes that escalating language does not contribute to meaningful dialogue or conflict resolution.

“Does one always have to communicate by shouting?” he questioned.

“Speaking loudly does not necessarily mean being heard more, the one who shouts the loudest actually knows the least.”

Erhurman also addressed the issue of children born to mixed marriages, such as those between Turkish citizens and Turkish Cypriots, who seek Cypriot citizenship.

“We need to inform international public opinion more about the issue because this is an issue about which we are one hundred per cent right,” he said.

Cases connected to the matter are currently before the European Court of Human Rights, though Erhurman said it would be inappropriate to speculate about the outcome of the legal proceedings.

He added that the issue has also been raised within United Nations human rights mechanisms.

Responding to criticism from ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli over the handling of a fibre optic infrastructure protocol involving Turkey, Erhurman rejected claims that his decisions had damaged relations with Ankara.

He dismissed the criticism as politically motivated and said it reflects a misunderstanding of how state institutions operate.

“Turkey does not deal with such things,” he insisted.