Renewing UN peacekeeping mandate without Turkish Cypriot consent violates UN principles: Türkiye
Turkish Foreign Ministry calls on UN Security Council "to treat the two sides on the Island equally and to finally start exerting sincere efforts for a settlement"
Türkiye on Saturday said that extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) without the consent of the Turkish Cypriots, one of the island’s two sovereign equal peoples, “is contrary to established UN practices and principles”.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry made a statement after the UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution renewing the UNFICYP’s mandate for another year.
Ankara said it “strongly” supports the statement issued by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) regarding a solution to the Cyprus issue.
The resolution’s continued reliance on approaches that have been attempted for decades — and have repeatedly failed — does nothing to advance a resolution of the Cyprus issue, it highlighted.
On the contrary, the ministry said, the resolution impedes the path to a permanent, just, and sustainable settlement grounded in the realities of the island.
It also called on the UN Security Council “to treat the two sides on the Island equally and to finally start exerting sincere efforts for a settlement”.
The peacekeeping force operates in the TRNC territory only with the goodwill of the TRNC authorities, the ministry said, emphasising the importance of establishing a legal framework for the continuation of these activities.
“Should this not happen in a timely manner, the steps to be taken by the TRNC authorities will have the full support of Motherland and Guarantor Türkiye,” it said.
The resolution continues to include “biased references” to the construction of the Yigitler-Pile road, the ministry said, adding that this is a humanitarian project intended to provide Turkish Cypriots living in the village of Pile, located within the buffer zone, with direct access to their homeland, the TRNC.
The ministry said the project remains incomplete due to the peacekeeping force’s “failure to implement the understanding previously reached between the UN and the Turkish Cypriot side, because of the pressure of the Greek Cypriot side, which actually has no say whatsoever regarding this matter”.
Ankara “strongly” condemns the resolution’s exclusion of numerous violations of the buffer zone by the Greek Cypriot side, particularly the Astromerit-Evrihu highway and the university building in Pile, it said, adding that these violations are increasing daily while the peacekeeping force continues to ignore them.
The sovereignty of the Greek-administration of Southern Cyprus does not cover the north of the island, nor does it include the buffer zone in any way, the ministry underscored.
“Considering that the Turkish Armed Forces and Türkiye’s effective guarantee, not the UN Peacekeeping Force, are the elements which have maintained peace on the Island for half a century, serious questions arise regarding the raison d’etre of the UN Peacekeeping Force, which cannot even display a fair and balanced approach towards both sides in the buffer zone which it administers,” it stated.
The most viable solution to the Cyprus issue is the coexistence of two states on the island, the ministry added.
It also urged the global community and the UN Security Council to recognise this reality, reaffirm the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people — including their sovereign equality and equal international status — and support the creation of a promising future shaped by close cooperation between the two neighbouring states on the island, promoting regional development, stability and prosperity.
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 Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC 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 Türkiye, Greece and the UK.
The Greek-administration of Southern Cyprus entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.