By Zehra Nur Celik
ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Friday criticized the extension of the UN Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another year.
“We strongly reject this approach, which disregards the will and existence of the Turkish Cypriot side,” TRNC’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We would like to emphasize once again that we do not accept the decisions of the UN Security Council that extend the mandate of UNFICYP due to their illegitimate recognition of the Greek Cypriot side as a ‘state,’” said the statement.
The statement came after the UNSC resolution on the extension of the mandate of UNFICYP until 31 January 2026 was adopted on Friday.
“Yet again, the Security Council has repeated the mistake of extending the mandate of UNFICYP without seeking the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side,” it said.
“The reference to the consent obtained from the so-called 'Government of Cyprus' for the extension of UNFICYP’s mandate is unacceptable,” the ministry noted.
Sovereignty in the North of Cyprus belongs to the Turkish Cypriot people and their state, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,' the statement underlined, adding that it is essential for UNFICYP to operate in the country on a legitimate basis.
Underlining that UNFICYP has been present in the country for 61 years, the statement said, “Unfortunately, during this time, UNFICYP has not only failed to fulfill its basic duties of treating both sides on the island equally and finding fair solutions to disputes but has also become the guardian of an unsustainable status quo.”
At present, the only feasible solution for the island depends on establishing friendly relations based on the principles of sovereign equality and equal international status of the two existing states, the statement stressed.
The statement urged members of the UN Security Council to “reassess their outdated resolutions and adopt a new approach, recognizing the existence of two distinct peoples and states on the island.”
Meanwhile, Colin Stewart, special representative and head of UNFICYP, met with TRNC President Ersin Tatar on Friday in the capital Lefkosa.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Stewart said they discussed several issues and agreed to open new border crossings between the TRNC and the Greek Cypriot administration.
Regarding the extension of the peacekeeping force mandate, he said the parties on the island will respect the buffer zone's integrity, as well as UN resolutions and the UN's presence in the buffer zone.
- Decades-long dispute
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 Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.