Türkiye on Friday criticized the U.N. Security Council’s decision to extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus for another year, calling on the international community to accept a two-state solution and to recognize the sovereign equality of Turkish Cypriots.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another year.
The mandate was extended until Jan. 31, 2027.
The resolution, penned by the UK, received 13 votes in favor, with Pakistan and Somalia abstaining.
The force, one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions, has been stationed on the island since 1964.
Türkiye said it strongly supported a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) regarding the decision.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry backed a similar statement by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and criticized the extension of the force’s mandate without the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side, describing it as contrary to established U.N. principles and practices.
It emphasized that the peacekeeping mission has been able to continue its activities in TRNC territory only due to the "goodwill approach” of Turkish Cypriot authorities, stressing that a legal framework must be established urgently.
Türkiye warned that if such a basis is not created soon, any steps taken by TRNC authorities would have the full support of guarantor power Türkiye.
Ankara also condemned what it called an unbalanced approach in the Security Council resolution, pointing to continued references to the Yiğitler-Pile road project, an initiative aimed at providing direct humanitarian access for Turkish Cypriots to the TRNC, which remains incomplete due to Greek Cypriot pressure, despite an earlier understanding with the Turkish Cypriot side.
At the same time, the ministry said the resolution failed to address what it described as increasing violations in the buffer zone by the Greek Cypriot side, including projects such as the Astromerit-Evrihu highway and a university built in the Pile area.
The statement underlined that the sovereignty of the Greek Cypriot administration does not extend to TRNC or the buffer zone. It argued that peace on the island for the past half-century has been ensured not by UNFICYP but by the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces and Türkiye’s effective guarantorship.
Türkiye said the continued reference to repeatedly tried and failed models for resolving the Cyprus issue does not contribute to settlement efforts and instead delays a fair, lasting and sustainable solution based on realities on the island.
"The most realistic solution to the Cyprus issue lies in the coexistence of two states on the island,” the ministry said, urging the Security Council and the international community to accept this reality and formally acknowledge Turkish Cypriots’ inherent rights to sovereign equality and equal international status.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. 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 Türkiye'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 guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.
The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.