- Hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Pakistan, raked up the Kashmir issue in his address at the UN General Assembly in New York, India called for respecting UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus.
- In his address on Tuesday, Erdogan said, “We maintain our stance in favour of solving the ongoing problem in Kashmir for 74 years, through dialogue between the parties and within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions.”
- Last year also, Erdogan in his pre-recorded video statement to the General Debate, had made a reference to Kashmir. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during a bilateral meeting with his Cyprus counterpart Nikos Christodoulides, Emphasised the need to adhere to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions with respect to the east Mediterranean island.
you can check about Dr. Jaishankar’s first visit to Saudi Arabia and it’s importance by clicking here.
Cyprus Issue :
- In the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire handed over Cyprus to Great Britain in return for military assistance against the Russians. The primary conflict then was between the people of Cyprus and the British administration of the island, with the former demanding right to self-determination or independence.
- However, the conflict assumed an ethnic nature when the two largest demographic entities – the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – proposed varying solutions.
- While the Greek Cypriots favoured a political union of all Greeks with the constitution of a sovereign Greek state, the Turks favoured partition of the island of Cyprus between Turkey and Greece. What ensued was a war-like situation, assuaged by the London-Zurich Agreement which saw Cyprus attain independence.
- Archbishop Makarios, a long-standing Greek Cypriot leader, was made the President and ratified a Constitution that provided for a Turkish Cypriot Vice-President and A division of the civil services in a 70-30 split between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, respectively.
- It is important to note that the TRNC lacks international recognition, enjoying diplomatic relations with just Turkey. While the Republic of Cyprus is the officially recognised governing entity of Cyprus, with a U.N. and EU membership. In order to maintain stability, the U.N. Security Council deployed the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1974.
