President Nikos Christodoulides directly confronted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the UN General Assembly, challenging him to end “selective sensitivity and hypocrisy to the maximum degree” regarding Cyprus’s occupation.
Speaking at the UN podium just 24 hours after Erdogan presented himself as a peacemaker, Christodoulides accused the Turkish leader of preaching peace whilst “committing the very crimes he accuses others of”.
Direct challenge issued to Turkish president at UN podium
Christodoulides told the international community that Erdogan “proclaimed peace and responsibility to the whole world” whilst simultaneously “accusing others of crimes that Turkey itself commits”.
The Cypriot president called on Turkey to follow Cyprus’s path of responsibility and “end the occupation through negotiations for a comprehensive solution that will reunite Cyprus in a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, always in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and EU law principles”.
Christodoulides deliberately avoided mentioning Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, demonstrating that “Turkey calls the shots on the Cyprus issue”.
Cyprus positions itself as regional stability pillar
The president highlighted Cyprus’s role as a regional stability pillar, citing humanitarian corridors to Gaza, evacuation support for foreign nationals from conflict zones including Sudan, Lebanon, Israel and Iran, and the upcoming EU Council presidency in January 2026.
Christodoulides emphasised that “history will judge us all, not by the statements we proclaim, but by the change we make possible”.
