| United Nations |
A/65/695–S/2011/31 |
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General Assembly
Security Council |
Distr.: General
25 January 2011 Original: English |
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General Assembly Security Council
Sixty-fifth session Sixty-sixth year
Agenda item 43
Question of Cyprus
Upon instructions from my Government and further to the letter dated 23 December 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, by which a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey on 21 December 2010 was circulated as a document of the United Nations (A/65/674-S/2010/674), I have the honour to transmit herewith a press release issued in response by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus on 22 December 2010 (see annex).
Allow me to underline that it is not within the competency of Turkey to issue official statements on the sovereign action of independent States undertaken in accordance with international law and practice.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 43, and of the Security Council.
( Signed ) Minas A. Hadjimichael
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative
Annex to the letter dated 20 January 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations addressed
to the Secretary-General
Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 December 2010
Regarding the statement made by the Turkish Foreign Ministry concerning the signing of the Agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the State of Israel on the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes:
The recent Agreement on Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, which was co-signed by the Republic of Cyprus and the State of Israel, was within the framework of exercising the Republic’s sovereign rights. Issues concerning the Republic of Cyprus and the exercise of its sovereign rights do not concern any third State. The conclusions of the recent European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers Council, which were subsequently adopted by the EU Summit, reiterate the right of all Member States to exercise their sovereign rights. More specifically, the text states: “The EU stresses again all the sovereign rights of EU Member States which include, inter alia, entering into bilateral agreements, in accordance with the EU acquis and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
The Republic of Cyprus is the only legitimate state in Cyprus , which is fully and internationally recognized and represents the people of Cyprus as a whole, including Turkish Cypriots. Turkey not only does not have the authority to question the legitimacy thereof, but it has the obligation to recognize the Republic of Cyprus, within the framework of its EU accession course, as provided for in the Declaration of the EU Council in September 2005.
The International Agreements signed by the Republic of Cyprus and the activities in which it is engaged in order to promote its economic interests are by no means related to and cannot influence the negotiations on the Cyprus issue. These agreements involve and benefit the people of Cyprus as a whole. What prevents Turkish Cypriots from benefiting of the initiatives of the Republic of Cyprus is the illegal Turkish occupation of the northern part of Cyprus . Therefore, Turkey should actively and in concrete terms contribute in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.