‘UNSC ignores Turkish Cypriots with mandate extension’
While Ankara said that the UNSC decision to extend the peacekeeping mission in Cyprus has no meaning or value, Turkish Cyprus underlined that they were not asked for their consent on the mission’s presence or activities on the island
TURKEY late Thursday said that the United Nations Security Council’s recent extension of the mandate of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force on the Island of Cyprus (UNFICYP) has “no meaning and value for us,” adding that the decision ignores the will of Turkish Cypriots.
“Unfortunately, this resolution, which is full of inconsistencies and disconnected from realities, ignores once again the will of the Turkish Cypriot people,” said a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.
This came after the U.N. Security Council approved the extension of the peacekeeping mission on the Island.
The ministry emphasized that it “fully supports” the statement made by the Foreign Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on the resolution.
“It is against the U.N.’s own rules and principles that the TRNC authorities’ consent was not taken for the extension of the mandate of UNFICYP. We expect the U.N. to rectify this situation and to conclude an agreement with the TRNC authorities as soon as possible so that the UNFICYP’s presence on the TRNC territory would not be questioned,” it said.
The statement underlined that it is “outlandish and unrealistic” that the resolution “attempts to dictate” the Turkish Cypriot people the settlement parameters, which were tried and failed, by referring to 30-year-old Council resolutions.
“There will never be a just, lasting and sustainable settlement on the Island if the Security Council will not secure the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot
people that they gained in 1960 and continues to turn a blind eye to the realities on the Island by treating the Greek Cypriot administration as the only legitimate representative of the Island despite the crimes it committed in 1963 and to reward the perpetrator and punish the victim,” it added.
The Foreign Ministry also called on the U.N. Security Council and the international community to focus on “reaching a settlement based on the realities, instead of serving the status quo on the Island.”
The TRNC also stated Thursday that it was not asked if it consents to the presence of U.N. peacekeeping forces on the island as the body extended the mission.
The TRNC Foreign Ministry said that TRNC authorities had not been asked if they consent to the UNFICYP’s presence and activities on the island.
“This situation is even against the rules and principles of the United Nations. It is necessary to remind that UNFICYP is only able to carry out its operations on our territory due to the goodwill and constructive stance of our authorities,” the statement said.
“We have a rightful demand for too long that a formal arrangement be reached between our authorities and the United Nations regarding the operations of UNFICYP in our country. We would like to bring to the attention of the international community that unless our demand is responded positively in a reasonable period of time, we will be compelled to revisit our goodwill on UNFICYP’s operations in our country,” it added.
The Foreign Ministry said that the UNSC disregarded the constructive proposal
submitted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the informal 5+1 U.N. meeting which took place on April 27-29, 2021.
It said that attempting to impose a settlement model which has failed for many years as it is inconsistent with realities on the ground, clearly demonstrates that the UNSC intends to preserve the status quo that benefits the Greek Cypriot side.
“The United Nations secretary-general openly states in his latest Report on UNFICYP that while the Turkish Cypriot authorities display a positive attitude, the Greek Cypriot authorities are reluctant on the matter. It is unacceptable that this fact is not reflected in the Resolution,” the statement added.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved on Thursday the extension of a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus.
The 15-0 vote extends the UNFICYP for six months, and Council President Nicolas de Riviere said his office “has met with the representatives of the parties who have confirmed that they maintain their well-known positions.”
The UNSC also recently condemned the decision by Turkey and Turkish Cyprus to reopen a residential section of the abandoned suburb Varosha (Maraş) last week and called for its “immediate reversal,” warning that it could raise tensions on the divided Mediterranean island.
A presidential statement approved by all 15 council members at an open meeting reiterated that any attempt to settle any part of the Varosha suburb “by people other than its inhabitants is inadmissible.”
In response, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry rejected the UNSC’s statement as well as the “unfounded claims” of several countries on the reopening of Varosha in Turkish Cyprus.
The UNSC statement on the reopening of the town of Varosha in Turkish Cyprus is an unprincipled statement meant to save the day in the face of pressures from the Greek Cypriots and Greece, the TRNC also said.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. 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 led to Turkey’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 Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N.-led Annan plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Both Turkey and TRNC have said a permanent peace in Cyprus can only come through the international community’s recognition of two separate states, upending decades of negotiations to reach a federation-based reunification accord.