Ankara: Trkiye on Monday described the European Commission's decision to appoint another special envoy for Cyprus as an internal matter of the European Union, while criticizing the bloc's longstanding approach to the island. 'We regard the European Commission's decision to once again appoint a 'Cyprus Special Envoy,' as in the case of similar appointments in the past, an internal matter of the European Union,' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement on US social media company X.

According to Anadolu Agency, Keceli stated that Trkiye maintains that the EU lost its neutrality on the Cyprus issue in 2004 when it admitted the Greek Cypriot administration as a member despite its rejection of a UN-backed comprehensive settlement plan. He mentioned that EU institutions, particularly the European Parliament, have continued to pursue a 'completely biased' approach toward the Cyprus issue, adding that this position has become more pronounced in recent years.

Trkiye expects the newly appointed European Commission official to work toward changing the EU's stance and recognizing that a settlement can only be reached through negotiations between two sovereign and equal states based on the realities on the island, Keceli said. Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Trkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Trkiye, Greece, and the UK. The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.