The ‘government’ in the occupied north has handed the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) an ultimatum, asking them to recognise the breakaway state or leave Cyprus in one month, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.
According to Hurriyet, ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu said that if UNFICYP do not make an agreement with the breakaway state, then they will be asked to abandon their two stations in the north.
“The hospitality is over. Either they sign a military agreement with the ‘Turkish republic of northern Cyprus or they leave,” Ertugruloglu was reported saying by Hurriyet.
He added that he and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean Pierre Lacroix to hand them a draft ‘status of forces of agreement’ (SOFA). He also said that the ‘government’ in the north will take further steps toward the recognition of the breakaway state.
Ertugruloglu said that the United Nations will review the draft text.
“They (the UN) said that they will respond as soon as possible, but we gave them an extra month. As ‘TRNC’ we tell them clearly ‘look, it is not the Greek-Cypriot administration who will approve your mission here, but us. We have been hosting you all these years, but now this is over. Even if they give us a negative answer, we won’t hesitate to take the necessary steps. Since 1974 we have been living with the security provided by the Turkish army. If the UN military leaves ‘TRNC’, they will leave.'”
