President Nikos Christodoulides in an interview to Greek news media Naftemporiki on Wednesday said future relations between the EU and Turkey depended on the progress made in regard to the Cyprus issue, adding that this had already been made clear to Ankara.

“There is no doubt, and I can tell you with certainty, everyone knows it, that the most decisive role is that of Turkey”, Christodoulides told Naftemporiki.

The President added that “everyone knows” that the decisions on whether the talks would resume and whether the Cyprus issue was resolved were taken by Turkey, stressing that “the key lies in Ankara”, essentially linking “any progress in Euro-Turkish relations with developments in the Cyprus issue.”

Christodoulides said that Turkey had recently shown a greater interest in improving relations with the EU, emphasising that Ankara had seemingly realised that this could only be achieved through “a positive approach” and progress on the Cyprus issue.

He reiterated that the EU linked the strengthening of connections to developments in the Cyprus problem.

“A relevant discussion took place during the last NATO Summit between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron”, Christodoulides said.

Highlighting the role of the international community, Christodoulides particularly acknowledged the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, his personal envoy to Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin and the European Commission’s envoy Johannes Hahn.

“The active interest of the EU, which can play a decisive role, was expressed both in the letter of the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council before the expanded conference in Geneva”, he said.

“I believe that we did everything possible to create the conditions for a positive outcome”, the President said.