Anadolu staff
10 July 2026•Update: 10 July 2026
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz on Friday rejected the European Parliament's resolution on Türkiye's 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, saying Ankara does not recognize it and considers it "null and void."
Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Unal Ustel at Ercan Airport in Nicosia, Yilmaz said the resolution undermines the credibility of the European Parliament.
"We do not recognize this decision in any way. It is null and void," Yilmaz said.
He added that the resolution "diminishes the credibility and reputation of the European Parliament" and urged the assembly "not to fall for such games."
Yilmaz said the European Parliament had become "a tool for the Greek Cypriot administration's propaganda," dismissing the resolution as baseless and saying it carried no significance for either Türkiye or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
He argued that the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation had brought lasting peace and stability to the island for more than five decades, benefiting both Turkish and Greek Cypriots, and urged the European Parliament to "look at history" rather than engage in "populist rhetoric."
Stressing that Türkiye acted in 1974 as a guarantor state in accordance with international law, Yılmaz said: "Those engaging in such polemics at the European Parliament should first look at the genocide taking place in Gaza."
He also said that without the 1974 operation, Turkish Cypriots could have faced a fate similar to that of Palestinians in Gaza.
AK Party spokesperson Omer Celik also condemned the European Parliament's resolution, describing it as "a vile slander" against the Turkish Armed Forces.
"The so-called resolution adopted by the European Parliament is a vile slander against the heroic Turkish Armed Forces. We condemn this so-called resolution," Celik said in a statement on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
He rejected the resolution as baseless, saying the Turkish Armed Forces have a long and honorable history, and called for support for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus "in the name of historical honesty."
In a post on US social media platform X, Burhanettin Duran, Türkiye's communications director, also criticized the European Parliament's decision on Cyprus, describing it as "unacceptable" and accusing it of making "baseless allegations" against the Turkish Armed Forces.
Cyprus Peace Operation
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 Peace Operation 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 European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
