UN Security Council (UNSC), at its meeting on 13 June 2002, decided to extend the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further period of six months until 15 December 2002.

Turkey supports the content of the Statement made by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on this matter.

Evidently, the operations of the UNFICYP in Northern Cyprus have so far been carried out with the cooperation of the authorities of the TRNC. By expressing in the UNSC Resolution 1416 (2002) that the mandate of the UNFICYP has been extended with the consent of the “Government of Cyprus”, the fact that there is no joint political authority based on the partnership of both parties representing the entire Island since 1963 has been disregarded.

The consent and approval of Turkey and the TRNC with regard to the extension of the mandate of the UNFICYP have neither been reflected in the UNSC Resolution 1416 nor in the UN Secretary-General’s Report on the UNFICYP. By doing so, the need for a separate arrangement to be made with the Turkish Cypriot side on the modalities of the UNFICYP’s operations in Northern Cyprus has once again been ignored, and the well-established and accepted UN principle that peacekeeping forces can operate only with the consent of the concerned parties has been violated. It is not possible for Turkey to accept this Resolution, which does not take into consideration the political equality and equal status of both parties in the Island.

This resolution of the UNSC is also contrary to the basic understanding underlying the current negotiating process and does not help to the efforts in search of a settlement to the Cyprus issue.