Turkey's Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the extension of the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another six months.
"The UN Security Council has voiced prejudgments regarding the result of the ongoing contacts by the UN Official assigned on a temporary basis by the UN Secretary-General and the possible future shape of the settlement process," the ministry said in a statement.
Also, recalling UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s emphasis on the need for new ideas, without referring to a specific settlement model, the ministry said: "In this most recent resolution, the UN Security Council has adopted a position which goes beyond the UN Secretary-General’s views."
"In this respect, this resolution does not make a realistic contribution to the efforts towards the settlement of the Cyprus issue. Furthermore, it is not compatible with the above-mentioned reports of the UN Secretary-General," Anadolu Agency cited the statement as saying.
The ministry also stressed that the mandate was extended without the consent of the authorities of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is another important deficiency of the resolution.
