Ankara has said that it fully supports the TRNC Foreign Ministry’s statement regarding the UN Security Council’s resolution 2618 extending the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a period of six months.

A statement from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that despite all calls and warnings, the UN, contrary to its rules and principles, failed to seek the consent of the TRNC authorities.

“While a legal arrangement has been persistently avoided, UNFICYP has been able to continue its activities in the north within the framework of the bona fide approach of the TRNC authorities. The steps of the TRNC to be taken in this regard have our full support,” the statement read.

It pointed out that the UN which on the one hand called on the parties on the island to reach a settlement but at the same time tried to impose a settlement model that has been tried and exhausted for more than fifty years and which has proven to be ineffective, contradicted itself and was disconnected from reality.

It added that the Security Council’s criticism of the steps taken by the TRNC authorities in Maraş in accordance with international law was a violation of property rights.

“Furthermore, the Council’s disregard of the unilateral steps taken by the Greek Cypriot Administration in the Eastern Mediterranean, which increases tensions and ignores the rights of Turkish Cypriots, is again an example of double standards,” the statement read.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called on the UN Security Council to adopt a sincere and constructive stance based on the realities on the island, and, to this end, reaffirm the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people