Greece expressed its support for the European Commission’s announcement of Johannes Hahn as its special envoy for the Cyprus problem, though Turkey was less enamoured by the decision.

Greece’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it “welcomes” Hahn’s appointment, and that the appointment “reaffirms the European Union’s unwavering support for United Nations-led efforts for a just, viable, and functional solution in accordance with the relevant UN security council resolutions and the EU acquis communautaire”.

Such a solution, it added, will be “to the benefit of all Cypriots”.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign ministry’s spokesman Oncu Keceli said he considers Hahn’s appointment to be “an internal matter of the EU”.

Related Articles

“In fact, the EU lost its neutrality in the context of the Cyprus issue by accepting the Greek Cypriot side as an EU member despite their rejection of [the Annan plan] in 2004,” he said.

“The biased approach of the EU, which has been exclusively defending the attitudes and claims of the Greek Cypriot side regarding the Cyprus issue, has been further strengthened,” he added.

“On the other hand, we expect [Hahn] to urge the Greek Cypriot side to accept the realities on the island of Cyprus and, in this way, to help the Greek Cypriots understand that any new negotiation process which may be initiated in the future will no longer be conducted between two communities, but between two states with sovereign equality.”

Hahn spent 14 years as a European commissioner between 2010 and last year and was often involved in matters related to enlargement. As such, he frequently interacted with the Turkish government.

He had drawn the ire of the Turkish government in 2016 after meeting then leader of pro-Kurdish political party the HDP Selahattin Demirtas and subsequently tweeting that a “political solution of the Kurdish issue is as crucial as ever”, that the HDP’s role would be “key”, and that “all actors must distance themselves from any kind of violence”.

Omer Celik, Turkey’ European Union minister at the time, lambasted Hahn for his remarks, saying, “one cannot help but wonder who are the actors that should distance themselves from violence in Turkey”.

“While the EU considers the PKK a terrorist organisation, the HDP rejects to do so … We sincerely wonder how the HDP will play a key role,” he added.

Hahn’s appointment in Cyprus was announced on Wednesday afternoon, with the European Commission explaining that he will “report to President [Ursula] von der Leyen and contribute to the settlement process within the UN framework in close cooperation with the UN secretary-general [Antonio Guterres’] personal envoy on Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin”.

“This designation underlines the commission’s commitment to the reunification of Cyprus, with the aim of ensuring a functional and viable comprehensive settlement in accordance with the relevant UN security council resolutions and in line with the principles, values, and legislation of the EU,” it added.

President Nikos Christodoulides welcomed the move, saying it was of “substantial importance” and that it “confirms, in the clearest possible way, the EU’s determination and commitment to play a leading role in the resumption of talks”.

“This decision is not the result of a momentary conjuncture. It is the fruit of coordinated diplomatic efforts, of a persistent and consistent strategy, which we have methodically, seriously, and reliably set at the highest European level from the very beginning,” he said.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, meanwhile, was markedly less impressed with Hahn’s appointment, describing it as “a unilateral attempt” on the European Commission’s part, which “ignores the political realities and delicate balances on the island”.