Cyprus peace process

Defying relevant UN resolutions and the decades-old agreed premise for a solution to Cyprus' division, the representative of the Turkish Ministry of Defense, Zeki Ozturk, insisted on a two-state solution on Thursday. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech he delivered to Turkish military personnel at a dinner Monday, not only defended the Turkish invasion of Cyprus but went even further by arguing that if Turkish forces had moved further south in 1974, then Cyprus might be all Turkish today

More specifically, Erdogan said:

Northern Cyprus will not sit at any negotiating table unless their sovereignty and equal status is recognized, Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar has told AFP.

Ankara has expressed its expectations for a fair and objective report on Cyprus from the U.N. special envoy, the diplomatic sources told Hurriyet Daily News.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for a year and urged all parties including rival Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to take steps "to de-escalate tensions in and around the buffer zone" dividing the Mediterranean island.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged for an end to the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriot breakaway entity in the Turkish-occupied part of northern Cyprus.

Türkiye's president on Aug. 21 criticized U.N. peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in Turkish Cyprus, calling the action "unacceptable" and accusing the peacekeeping force of bias against Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye would not allow any "unlawful" behavior toward Turks on Cyprus.

The UN Security Council on Monday called unauthorized construction by Turkish Cypriots inside the UN buffer zone dividing Cyrus a violation of the status quo that is contrary to council resolutions and it condemned their assault on UN peacekeepers.

US Representative John Sarbanes holds Turkish President Erdogan accountable for the attacks by Turkish Cypriots against UN peacekeepers in Pyla and calls on US President Joe Biden to ensure that the crisis is "meaningfully addressed" by the United Nations.

The authorities in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus must "immediately withdraw all personnel and equipment from the UN buffer zone," three members of the US Congress have said, after Turkish Cypriots assaulted a number of international peacekeepers for obstructing construction teams building a road that would encroach on the buffer zone.