Regarding the 60th  year of the deployment of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

Regarding the 60th  year of the deployment of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

United Nations Security Council deployed a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the Island of Cyprus through its Resolution 186, dated 4 March 1964, with an aim to “restore peace” in face of the atrocities carried out against the Turkish Cypriot people, when the island was turned into a bloodbath by the Greek Cypriot side. After 60 years, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus has become one of the longest running “peacekeeping” missions in the world and rather than restoring peace or facilitating an agreement between the sides, it has not gone beyond serving as the guardian of the status quo.

 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 sought the “consent” of the “Government of Cyprus” which had no legitimacy due to exclusion of one of the government partners from all State organs by force or arms and which was monopolized by the Greek Cypriot side. This has led to the misdiagnosis and continuation of the Cyprus issue to this day. The issue of status, which constitutes the essence of the Cyprus problem, is the product of Resolution 186. Since 4 March 1964, the international community has been treating the Greek Cypriot people as the sole legitimate government on the island, whereas the Turkish Cypriot people as a “minority community”, rendering the Cyprus issue complex and inextricable.

 

Between the years of 1963 and 1974, the darkest chapter in the history of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot people were forced to live in small enclaves and 103 Turkish Cypriot villages were eradicated before the very eyes of the international community, including the UN Peacekeeping Force which was on the ground at the time. Therefore, the anniversary of the presence of the UN Peacekeeping Force, which merely “monitored and reported” the atrocities faced by the Turkish Cypriot people, is not an occasion to be celebrated with pride on our part. Quite to the contrary, it is the symbol of the date when we were deprived of our inherent and legitimate rights.

 

The sole party who put an end to the 11 years of suffering of the Turkish Cypriot people and, to this day, continues to provide and protect the peace, is Motherland Türkiye, who intervened in the island in 1974 in accordance with her legitimate rights stemming from the 1960 International Treaties.

 

For the past 60 years and to this day, Security Council resolutions regarding the extension of the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force continue to refer to the illegitimate “Government of Cyprus”. Although we allow the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus to carry out its operations in our country as a gesture of our good will and hospitality, despite the lack of seeking consent of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, we continue our initiatives towards placing the operations of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force on a legal

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