Cyprus–United Kingdom relations

“Turkey has been illegally occupying Cyprus for nearly 50 years violating the Treaty of Guarantee which established and guaranteed Cyprus’ independence”

Britain's foreign minister said Thursday that flexibility and compromise are key to making the most of a fresh United Nations bid to restart talks on resolving Cyprus' decades-old ethnic division.

The Turkish foreign minister on Jan. 3 spoke with his British counterpart over the phone, according to diplomatic sources.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Dominic Raab addressed bilateral relations and the Cyprus issue said diplomatic sources speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy on June 12 criticized the U.K. for not consulting the Turkish Cypriot administration and Ankara regarding a regulation of the use of properties on British bases by their owners, which the official said means a "change of the status" in the region of the bases.

Ankara on Tuesday described the bloc comprising Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an attempt to create an "axis of malice" led by France.

Turkey on Jan. 12 commemorated the seventh death anniversary of founding father of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktaş, who passed away in 2012.

Denktaş was born on Jan. 27, 1924, in the western Cypriot town of Baf, now on the Greek side of the island.

The 1959-60 London and Zurich Agreements, accepted by the representatives of the two equal co-founder communities (Greek and Turkish), together with the three guarantor powers (the United Kingdom, Turkey and Greece), granted Cyprus independence from the U.K. as a bicommunal partnership republic.

At 6 a.m. on July 20, 1974, Turkish troops stormed into the Republic of Cyprus in accordance with Article III of the Treaty of Guarantee of the first constitution of 1960. This mandated each of the guaranteeing parties - Greece, Turkey and Great Britain - "to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs" if that were ever threatened.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Oct. 9 slammed a joint declaration issued following a trilateral summit between Egypt, Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration on the Cyprus issue, saying it contains "baseless claims" against Turkey. 

Turkey has criticized a joint statement issued by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt in Cairo Tuesday, saying it contains "baseless claims" against Ankara.
The three countries urged Turkey to "end its provocative actions" in the Eastern Mediterranean, including exploring for oil in Cyprus' territorial waters, which they called "a breach of international law."