Cyprus welcomes resignation of UK trade envoy after visit to occupied north | Cyprus

Cyprus welcomed the resignation of the Afzal Khan trade ambassador in Turkey, and the workers’ deputy sent a “echoed message” because of the widespread criticism of the last visit of the island to the north of Turkey.

Khan defended his trip on August 8 in a letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and defended that he was carried out in a personal capacity at the parliamentary facility ”.

However, Manchester Rusholme, who faced calls for resignation by accepting the furore caused by the visit, felt that it was the best to stop at the moment, so it is not to get away from the difficult work that the government has made to secure the best possible trade agreements for this country ”.

On Saturday, during the hours when the British government confirmed the resignation, the decision of the Cypriot Foreign Ministry called “an important development önünde showing that there may be zero tolerance for an organization recognized by any country other than Türkiye.

In a statement, he said: “British deputy Afzal Khan’s Republic of Cyprus in the occupied regions of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as a meeting of the meeting [the territory’s leader] Mr. Tatar was unacceptable and provocative actions. “

The department sent a message that shows that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not “there is no room for tolerance”.

There should be political results about “is open…. [the north] … Especially for those who encourage, help or tolerate it. “

Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided by a coup against Greece, which was designed by the hard Junta in the power in Athens, a coup in which Ankara encouraged Ankara to initiate a military operation in order to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority.

Following years of violence between the United States after the independence of the UK, the two -phase invasion caused Turkish troops to seize 37% of Cyprus’s territory and trigger mass displacement, the majority moved in the south of the Greek Cyprus population, non -patrol and Turkish Cypriot swords.

In 1983, the separatist North declared independence on a unilateral independence – the Brania immediately directed a meeting of the UN Security Council to condemn the declaration of “legally invalid”. After that, successive governments have refused to establish diplomatic relations with existence since then.

Despite the efforts of Turkish Cypriot officials to gain recognition, only the international Republic of Cyprus in the Greek -speaking southern is accepted. Last year, when Keir Starmer made his first official visit to the island by a British Prime Minister for more than 50 years, he refused to meet with Starmer Tatar, instead of interviews with Cyprus President Nikos Christoulides.

Türkiye has been protecting approximately 35,000 soldiers in the north.

On Saturday, Tatar, a harsh nationalist defending a two -state solution to solve the Cyprus problem, rejected the pressure on Khan, saying that the British deputy visited the mini -state that declared himself with his own invitation. Tatar, “an elected deputy Britain as a trade ambassador of Türkiye to resign from his post, to interact with the Turkish Cypriot people, is a warning sign for everyone who believes in democracy and equality,” he said.

After 1974, the Diaspora groups in England, where many Greek and Turkish Cyprus settled, said that Khan’s visit was particularly “politically insensitive, because the second stage of the occupation that began in mid -1974 continued the UN efforts to bring together the 51st anniversary and the island.

Christos Karaolis, who was the head of the National Cyprus Federation in the UK, said, “Afzal Khan was the right to resign as a trade ambassador of Türkiye after an in -depth and unacceptable visit to the north of Cyprus.

“The actions endangered Britain’s long -standing foreign policy over Cyprus, it was unlawful international law, and many of them disrespect the experiences of our British Cyprus community, which were forced by Türkiye’s 1974 invasion.