Turkey will continue to fulfill its duty as a guarantor country for the island of Cyprus as it has done so far, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Monday.

"Turkey's effective and de facto guarantor (role) and the presence of Turkish soldiers in Cyprus are our red line and indispensable," Akar said at the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Social Resistance and Armed Forces Day Reception.

Turkey will always continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriots in their just cause, Akar said.

"In our work with the TRNC, we have not been able to find any response to all the solution proposals we have put forward," he said, adding that Greeks did their best to separate themselves and differentiate the Turkish population there with an "uncompromising attitude."

Greek Cypriots should recognize the sovereignty and independence of the Turkish presence and accept their right to live in security and prosperity, he said.

"In particular, we expect third parties to be objective and impartial about the Cyprus issue, to abandon their strategic blindness and to approach events with an equal understanding," he added.

Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the United Nations 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 Turkey'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 the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.

Most recently, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution that renewed the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another six months.

The resolution extends the UNFICYP's mandate until Jan. 31, 2023.

The text of the draft resolution was submitted by the United Kingdom.

The UNFICYP, one of the U.N.'s longest-running peacekeeping missions, has been stationed on the island since 1964, with its mandate being extended every six months.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry dubbed the resolution "as always, disconnected from the reality, unfair and unjust again."

"It ignores the Turkish Cypriot people and their inherent rights, and also disregards inhumane and unlawful isolations imposed upon them," the ministry added.

"It is an inconsistent and contradictory approach for the U.N. Security Council to try to impose a settlement model, which has been tried for almost 50 years and failed and no longer reflects the will of the Turkish Cypriot people," it added. "This approach serves the continuation of the status quo, rather than the settlement."

"References to Maraş (Varosha) in the resolution are also disconnected from the facts," the statement said. "Turkey will continue to give full support to the steps taken by the TRNC authorities, respecting the property rights in Maraş."

Varosha had virtually become a ghost town as it remained cut off from the world for 47 years. A portion of the region – around 3.5% of its total area – was reopened in October 2020. It was abandoned after a 1984 U.N. Security Council resolution that said only original inhabitants could resettle in the town.

"We once again call on U.N. Security Council and the international community to focus on the realities on the Island and reaffirm the inherent rights of Turkish Cypriot people, namely, their sovereign equality and equal international status," it added.