Official Turkey on Thursday reacted angrily to the start of Cyprus’ 2026 EU council presidency and especially in the wake of repeated references to the “Turkish invasion” and to the fact that a Turkish Cypriot pseudo-state was utterly ignored.
One statement that particularly irked Ankara during a relevant ceremony in Nicosia ushering in the six-month Cypriot EU presidency was Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s quote of “…For the European Union, a comprehensive, fair and lasting settlement for Cyprus remains an absolute priority.”

Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend the official opening ceremony of Cyprus taking over the EU presidency at the THOC theatre in Nicosia, Cyprus, Jan. 7, 2026. REUTERS/stringer

“We reject the use of terms such as ‘occupation,’ ‘invasion,’ and ‘division’ in the context of the island of Cyprus, made during various speeches at the event held on Jan. 7, 2026, to mark the assumption of the EU Presidency by the Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus. These terms are in no way compatible with the historical and current reality on the island,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in Ankara.
Turkey, a perennial EU candidate state, does not recognize one of the 27 member-states, Cyprus, of a bloc that it wants to join. Ankara only refers to the ‘Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus.’ Conversely, as the occupying power, Turkey alone recognized the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, a pseudo-state it created and has propped up since 1983.
Along those lines, the spokesman bemoaned the fact that the pseudo-state was ignored.
“Moreover, the Greek Cypriot side’s misuse of the EU Presidency from the very outset –contrary to the commitments made publicly — to promote its distorted narrative and uncompromising positions on the Cyprus issue clearly demonstrates why the EU cannot be a neutral and constructive actor in efforts to resolve the Cyprus question,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

‘Greek Cypriot gangs’

Earlier, an inflammatory was posted on the official X account Turkey’s national defense, noting among others, that “…these lands did not become a homeland easily! Every inch was won with the blood and lives of the Turkish Cypriots and the mehmetçik (the Turkish soldier). We will continue to tell all the truths against those who try to erase from history the atrocities committed by the EOKA terrorist organization and Greek Cypriot gangs in Cyprus, and we will always stand by the Turkish Cypriot people.”
The post coincided on Thursday with an even at the ministry in Ankara focusing on the occupied territories of Cyprus, where the leader of the TC pseudo-state, Tufan Erhürman, was also in attendance.
The entire event appeared to revolve around a justification for the 1974 invasion and continued occupation of one-third of the island republic’s territory.