NICOSIA —
The self-declared
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has given
peacekeepers on the island a deadline of one month to leave if the UN does not
recognize its existence.
اضافة اعلان
Established in
1964, UNFICYP is one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions in
existence.
“Our hospitality
has its limits: either they sign a military agreement with the TRNC or they
leave,” the Turkish daily Hurriyet on Wednesday quoted Turkish Cypriot Foreign
Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu as saying.
“We decided to
give them another month. It is not the Greek Cypriot government who will
approve of your mission in the north. It is us,” Hurriyet quoted him as saying
to the UN force.
Turkish troops
invaded the eastern Mediterranean island in 1974 after a Greek-engineered coup
seeking to unite it with Greece, and tens of thousands of soldiers from
mainland Turkey are still posted in its northern third.
The TRNC was
unilaterally declared in 1983 and is recognized by Turkey alone.
UNFICYP’s presence
is dictated by a mandate issued by the UN Security Council, which is renewed
every six months at the end of January and July.
Ertugruloglu said
UN peacekeepers have two camps in the north.
UNFICYP, which
said on Wednesday it had not received any notification from the TRNC, was
established to prevent clashes between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot
communities.
It currently has
just over 1,000 personnel, including nearly 750 peacekeepers.
Negotiations to
resolve the
Cyprus conflict have been deadlocked since 2017.
In 2004, a UN plan
aimed at reunifying the island was put to a referendum on both sides: it was
approved by nearly 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots but rejected by more than 75
percent of Greek Cypriots.
The
internationally recognized government of Cyprus joined the EU a week later.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
