Turkey will “not abandon” the Turkish Cypriots and will “continue to defend” what it considers their rights in the Levant, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres concluded talks in Cyprus aimed at advancing the peace process.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey was closely watching developments concerning Cyprus and warned against initiatives which, in Ankara’s view, excluded the Turkish Cypriot side.

“We are carefully monitoring every step taken by circles that wish to turn Cyprus into a part of new military structures and geopolitical calculations,” he said, an apparent allusion to Israel’s growing military cooperation between Cyprus and Greece.

Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s position that any future negotiations on the Cyprus issue must recognise what Ankara describes as the “sovereign equality” of the Turkish Cypriots.

“No initiative that ignores the sovereign equality, rights and legitimate interests of Turkish Cypriots in the eastern Mediterranean can be crowned with success,” he said.

He also repeated Turkey’s commitment to supporting the Turkish Cypriot community, saying Ankara would “never allow, no matter what the cost, for them to relive the old suffering.”

Erdogan described Turkey’s role on the island as a matter of “national security”, signalling that Ankara had no intention of changing its position despite renewed diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations.

His remarks came hours after Guterres completed meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, during which he announced plans to convene a new enlarged meeting on Cyprus once sufficient progress had been made on confidence-building measures and preparations for renewed negotiations.

Erdogan also referred to planned infrastructure projects, affirming Turkey’s intention to proceed with an undersea natural gas pipeline to the north.