Turkey on Saturday voiced support for the stance taken by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) against the UN’s decision to extend the mandate of a peacekeeping mission on the island, APA reports citing Anadolu Agency.
Ankara also called on the global body to stop relying on “a tested and exhausted process” that has failed to resolve the Cyprus dispute for “more than 50 years.”
The UN Security Council on Friday extended the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force on the Island of Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months.
“TRNC authorities’ consent was not sought once again regarding the presence of UNFICYP on the Island. This situation is against the UN’s own rules and principles,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We would like to bring to the international community’s attention that the UNFICYP continues its activities on the Island through the constructive and bona fide attitude of TRNC authorities.”
Referring to a report released by UN chief Antonio Guterres earlier this month, the ministry said it “did not refer to any settlement model” for the Cyprus dispute “and rather, pointed to a mutually acceptable settlement.”
“Nevertheless, [the] Council’s insistence on bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, which has not provided a settlement for more than 50 years, and its pre-judgements of the settlement on which the two sides on the Island should agree, are unacceptable,” read the statement.
Ankara expects that all “parties would sincerely reveal their visions for future” in the informal 5+UN meeting that “aims to determine whether there is a common ground towards the settlement,” it added.
“It would be useful for the UN Security Council to lay the ground that would allow the addressing of new ideas to enable settlement, instead of imposing on the sides a tested and exhausted process that did not produce a settlement,” the ministry asserted.
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