The United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a period of six months with its resolution 2646 (2022) adopted on 28 July 2022.

We fully support the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) concerning the resolution.

It is against the UN’s established practices that the TRNC authorities’ consent was not taken for the extension of the mandate of UNFICYP. It also violates the inherent rights of Turkish Cypriot people. Türkiye will give full support to the steps announced to be taken by TRNC authorities, with a view to overcome this injustice.

The resolution is, 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.

It is an inconsistent and contradictory approach for the UN 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. This approach serves the continuation of the status quo, rather than the settlement.

References to Maraş in the resolution are also disconnected from the facts. Türkiye will continue to give full support to the steps taken by the TRNC authorities, respecting the property rights in Maraş.

We once again call on UN Security Council and 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.