The Office of the President has said that the UN Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a year is unacceptable.
The Office of the President on Monday expressed its disappointment with the UN Security Council’s latest resolution extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force on the island for 12 months.
A written statement issued by the TRNC Presidency said that the references to the basis of negotiations in the resolution once again ignored the realities on the ground and served to maintain the status quo on the island.
It said that the UN Security Council once again revealed that it was not truly interested in a solution to the Cyprus Problem.
The statement stressed that the Turkish Cypriot people will not surrender its future to imposed models of settlement and urged the international community to refrain from using expressions that will protect the status quo and to support a basis that both sides will be able to reach an agreement on.
“The Turkish Cypriot side had repeatedly stated both verbally and in writing that negotiations can begin immediately on and after when its vested rights, in other words its sovereign equality and equal international status is recognized,” it said.
The statement also reminded that the Turkish Cypriot side had no preconditions and that as a sign of its good will and constructive approach had proposed cooperation with the Greek Cypriot side on a number of areas.
It added that the failure of the resolution to mention its proposals of cooperation was a shortcoming. “Our President sees cooperation between the two sides as vital and its efforts in this direction will continue. Once again we would like to share our determination to bring to life projects that will impact the daily lives of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots through concrete steps to be taken in the name of cooperation,” the statement stressed.
The Office of the President also said that the Turkish Cypriot side will continue to support the work carried out by the bi-communal technical committees aimed at easing the daily lives of people on both sides of the island.
The statement however pointed out that references made in the resolution to the fenced-off town of Maraş was nothing more than a manifestation of the international community’s shallow politics directed at the shift in policy. It said that the shift in the Turkish Cypriot side’s policy which changed the situation in the field started with the Maraş initiative and will expand to other areas.
“To abandon the fenced-off town of Maraş to its fate is not only serving to preserve the status quo but also serves to ignore the rights of its former inhabitants,” the statement read, adding that it was the international community’s biased stance and Greek Cypriot intransigence which had kept the resort-town closed until 2020. It pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot people will determine their own future and no piece of the TRNC’s land will be handed over to Greek Cypriot [political] will.
“The sheer amount of applications made to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) by former inhabitants of Maraş proves how incisive the decision to go ahead with the initiative was. Those objected to these applications not only serves to deprive property owners of their rights but also the implementation of the law,” the statement said.
The Office of the President also played down the importance of the decision to allow the trade of some non animal foods produced in the TRNC, stating that the move was more symbolic and part of an attempt on behalf of the UN to portray this is as a success.
“The real success would have been to allow Turkish Cypriot producers to export their produce without any restrictions to international markets. In this sense, great responsibility falls on the international community to remove the embargoes and restrictions imposed on Turkish Cypriot producers. What’s more, difficulties created by Greek Cypriot customs at crossing points over the last 6 months continues to present itself as a serious obstacle for economic cooperation between the two sides,” the President’s Office said.
It added that the failure of the resolution to mention the decades of unjust embargoes and isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people was part of an attempt to conceal the international community’s shameful stance on the Cyprus issue. The statement also said that the UN Security Council’s decision to extend its mandate by 12 months without seeking the consent and approval of the Turkish Cypriot side contradicted good will.
It said that the UN, by doing so, has abused the good will shown byTurkish Cypriot authorities for UNIFCYP’s operations within the TRNC. “The president’s expectation is that an agreement is signed between the TRNC authorities and UNFICYP regarding UN operations within the TRNC,” the statement said. The Office of the President concluded its statement by expressing its continued determination to pursue its diplomacy oriented policy that will contribute to peace and stability in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean region as well as the two sides in Cyprus.
Source: BRT
