UN Security Council extends mandate of UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus for another year

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another year.

The mandate was extended until Jan. 31, 2027.

The resolution, penned by the UK, received 13 votes in favor, with Pakistan and Somalia abstaining.

The force, one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions, has been stationed on the island since 1964.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.