President Ersin Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun said that the United Nations Peacekeeping Force had to obtain the consent of the parties in an area it is deployed, in accordance with its own rules.

Stressing that this was a right, not a demand, Olgun said that many attempts have been made regarding this issue in the past, but that there was a common will to finalize the issue both in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and in Türkiye.

President Ersin Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun made statements about the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) during a program he attended on BRT on Wednesday.

Noting that UNFICYP was obliged to obtain the consent of the parties in a region it is deployed, in accordance with its own rules, he said “this is not just a demand, it is a right. We want that right to be fulfilled.”

Referring to the statements of Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Olgun noted that the UN Peacekeeping Force had been carrying out its operations with a consent given by the Greek Cypriot side under the name of the so-called Republic of Cyprus in 1964 adding that the Turkish Cypriot side had so far only consented in the conduct of these activities out of goodwill and tolerance.

Stating that many attempts had been made to obtain the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side in the past, he said this was not a new attempt and added “there is a common will both in the Turkish Cypriot side, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the President and in Türkiye, regarding the finalization of this issue.”

He said that the UN needed to adopt an equal stance to all parties if it truly wanted to contribute to peace and stability in Cyprus.