President Nikos Christodoulides tendency to make newsworthy public statements, almost on a daily basis, often result in sending mixed signals. So mixed they undermine his credibility.

During his visit to France, earlier in the week, he gave an interview to the French newspaper Le Figaro, in which he declared his readiness to meet Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan stated that “I extend an invitation to him here.” He also said: “If Turkey is ready, I am prepared to meet its president to discuss the Cyprus issue and reach a negotiated settlement.”

All Cyprus media gave extensive coverage to this comment, even though everyone knows there is zero possibility of this happening. Turkey would not undermine the status of Turkish Cypriots by talking directly to the Cyprus president, at a time when it embraces the position of separate sovereignty and of the existence of two equal entities in Cyprus.

Inevitably, there was a strong reaction by the new Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, who accused Christodoulides of “disregarding his interlocutor.” After pointing out that Turkish Cypriots are “on an equal footing in all negotiations under the United Nations umbrella,” Erhurman said that this approach “does not in any way help to create a climate for a solution on the island.”

This was a disparaging snub of the Turkish Cypriot leader, whose cooperation and constructive approach would be required if there is to be a resumption of talks that Christodoulides has been pursuing ever since he came to office. By publicly snubbing the man he will be negotiating with and implying that he is Ankara’s puppet is creating the climate for a resumption of talks? If anything, he is sending a signal that his commitment to a resumption of talks is questionable.

On Thursday morning, meanwhile, Phileleftheros reported that at the European Council meeting, later in the day, during the discussions on Ukraine, Christodoulides would present to the other leaders, a document of evidence regarding “violations of European decisions in which it appears that Turkey had an involvement.” He had also shown these documents to President Zelenskiy on his visit to Kyiv, the journalist, who was accompanying Christodoulides to Brussels, reported.

This was another example of the mixed signals policy. Was he expecting to persuade Erdogan to meet him to discuss a Cyprus settlement, after he has accused Turkey of violating EU sanctions against Russia at the EU council? And the funny thing is that the only source of this news report could have been the president himself. From where else could the Phileleftheros journalist have heard of what the president planned to do at the European Council meeting?

With his interview in Le Figaro Christodoulides pushed away Erhurman and with his actions in Brussels – if he carried out his plan – he would have angered Erdogan and in the process undermined his claims that he is keen to secure a resumption of talks.