• UNFICYP needs to enter into a formal agreement with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
• It is in order to continue its presence and operations there.
• The TRNC proposed a Status of Forces Agreement to the United Nations in September.

Officials have warned Al Jazeera that Turkish-Cypriot authorities could be getting ready to remove United Nations peacekeepers from their bases in northern Cyprus, sparking a fresh political and security crisis on the divided island.

Tahsin Ertugruloglu, who oversees Northern Cyprus’ foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera that “[the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)] needs to enter into a formal agreement with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in order to continue its presence and operations there.

“In September, we proposed a Status of Forces Agreement to the United Nations. Once the UN has evaluated and responded to our proposal, we will decide on the next actions to be taken, he said.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot intercommunal fighting led to the establishment of the UNFICYP in 1964. It keeps an eye on the Green Line, a demarcation that separates Turkish and Greek Cypriots living in the north and south of the island, respectively.

Every six months, with the agreement of the southern, internationally recognized government of Cyprus, the UN Security Council extends UNFICYP’s mandate.

In January, the renewal is due once more; however, Turkish Cypriots insist that this time, they must also be included in the decision-making process.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was established by self-proclamation in 1983, is not recognized by the UN, which creates a legal issue for the Security Council. It is not a member of the UN and only Turkey recognizes it.

Northern Cyprus makes up for its lack of legal status with its superior military might. There are reportedly 35,000 Turkish soldiers stationed, far outnumbering Greek-Cypriot forces.

They are the remains of a Turkish invasion that was started in 1974 after a failed coup by Greece to unify the island.

“This is an extremely significant issue. Andreas Mavroyiannis, a candidate for president in Cyprus’s February elections, said, “I’m quite frightened that [the Turkish Cypriots] will use every pretext to drive the UN forces from its base in Karolou Stefani north of Famagusta.

“I’m not sure the peacekeepers can withstand a Turkish army assault to drive them out, and doing so would allow the Turkish side to settle and develop that territory north of Famagusta,” the author says. The Turkish-Cypriot plan to develop Famagusta includes using this property, he claimed.

On Cyprus’s east coast is a deserted town called Famagusta. It has been occupied by the Turkish army since 1974, although Turkey has been told by the UN Security Council to give it back to the Greek Cypriots.

As part of any plan to reunify the island as a bicommunal federation, Turkey has committed to do so. However, such discussions were put on hold two years ago when Turkish Cypriots chose a government that supports the island’s permanent division into two independent republics.

Since then, Famagusta has been declared by Northern Cyprus and Turkey to be annexed, eliminating a significant incentive for reunification.

Ahmet Sözen, the chair of the political science department at East Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus, said, “I don’t expect that the UN peacekeeping force is going to get engaged with an army… they’re not going to resist.”

“If that happens, the UN will only be able to operate in the buffer zone, unable to freely cross into the north, and in the south, only able to interact with Greek-Cypriot authorities. But you need both sides’ participation if you want to control the buffer zone effectively and efficiently, Sözen remarked.

If Greek and Turkish Cypriots were to have any chance of becoming one country, according to Mavroyiannis, who has served as Cyprus’ senior negotiator with the Turkish Cypriots for the past nine years, any such action needed to be stopped.

He added, “Our response must be to demand that the UN Security Council expand the dead zone of Famagusta to include the Karolou Stefani military installation.

Extending that dead zone would render the base unusable for construction and add it to the territory that would eventually be given back to the Greek Cypriots.
After the United States lifted an embargo on arms sales to Cyprus, which had been in place since 1987 in an effort to stop additional violence, on September 16, the Turkish-Cypriot ultimatum to the UN was issued.

Cyprus was added to the State Partnership Program of the US National Guard two weeks later, enabling Cypriot national guardsmen to train alongside the New Jersey Army National Guard.

That transaction was “seriously denounced” by Turkey.

Beyond upsetting the equilibrium between the two sides on the island, the US has clearly turned partial with this decision, according to the Turkish foreign ministry.

These changes occurred as US-Turkish relations continued to deteriorate following Turkey’s 2016 purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia, a sub-strategic weapon the US claims might be used to spy on the capabilities of its fighter jets.

Turkey was forbidden from purchasing F-35 fighter bombers of the fifth generation because it refused to give up the weapon. It is now prohibited by the US Congress from making improvements to the F-16s it already owns.

“The invasion of Cyprus by Turkey in 1974 was a stunning attempt to redraw European frontiers after World War II. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez, stated in November 2019 that “today, Turkey’s invasion of the north of Cyprus must be viewed for what it is—an illegal occupation that must cease.

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