Turkey’s strategic goal of joining the European Union could be supported by Cyprus if there are developments on the Cyprus problem, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.

“I have heard Mr. Erdogan’s statements and if they are valid in practice, in essence, and are not just statements, we are here to lead in this direction,” Christodoulides said.

In view of recent developments on the Cyprus problem following the election of Tufan Erhurman as Turkish Cypriot leader in October, Christodoulides said he was “fully prepared” for the upcoming meeting between the two leaders and the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin on December 11.

The December 11 meeting will be preceded by separate meetings between Holgiun and each of the two leaders. She will first meet Erhurman on Friday, and then Christodoulides on Saturday.

“On Saturday I will see Mrs Holguin, (…) and I am attending the meeting with one and only goal: To create the conditions for the resumption of talks,” he said.

Speaking after the meeting of the Turkish cabinet on Monday evening, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his country’s aim of full membership of the European Union.

“Full membership continues to be our strategic priority despite the obstacles placed before us,” Erdogan said.

Christodoulides had previously said that he was considering inviting Erdogan or Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to the informal meetings to be held during Cyprus’ presidency of the EU Council, saying this might boost EU relations with Turkey

“We cannot change our geography. Turkey will always be a neighbour of Cyprus, so I prefer a neighbour that is close to the European Union,” the President said in an interview with the Financial Times in mid-November.

The European Commission, in its annual report on Turkey published in early November, called on it to “normalise” relations with Cyprus and avoid any kind of actions that could increase tensions and hinder the resumption of talks on the Cyprus problem.

The EU Parliament, soon after Erdogan’s visit to the north, in May said that Turkey’s EU accession process must be frozen, due to the country’s “democratic backsliding.”

In their statement, the MEPs stressed that “EU membership criteria are not up for negotiation, and condemned the “recent illegal visit of President Erdogan to the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus”, deeming his “provocative statements” a “tantamount to a direct illegitimate intervention against the interests of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.”