Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said on Wednesday that foreign forces will not be able to operate in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) without receiving authorisation from the authorities.

He said that the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) cannot carry out activities on TRNC soil with the approval it has received from the so-called Republic of Cyprus.

“We have been saying this for months, this is not a surprise for the UN,” Ertuğruloğlu told BRT.

Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu on Wednesday made it clear that the UN peacekeeping operations will be suspended in the country unless a ‘status of forces of agreement’ or SOFA is signed with TRNC authorities.

“We allowed UNFICYP to operate in the TRNC as a host. They were aware months ahead that we were preparing for this. I told them we could work on an agreement if they were open to it. UNFICYP cannot operate on TRNC soil with the permission granted by the so-called Republic of Cyprus. This has been on the agenda for months, it’s nothing new and should not come as a surprise for the UN,” he said.

The TRNC foreign minister said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s hospitality has ended, and that the UN either signs a military agreement with the TRNC or leaves.

Ertuğruloğlu also said that there was nothing that the TRNC had to apologise for.

“We reject all attempts to ignore the fact that we are two separate peoples and two separate states in Cyprus,” he said.