The “foreign ministry” in the occupied north has condemned a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) due to be signed between Cyprus and France in June 2026, declaring it null and void for the Turkish Cypriot people.
The agreement, confirmed by President Nikos Christodoulides, will provide for the presence of French forces on Cypriot territory for humanitarian purposes and will be signed at ministerial level. It builds on a strategic partnership agreement signed in Paris in December last year, which established a framework for cooperation across defence, energy, security, innovation and education, with an action plan covering 2026 to 2030. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis described the SOFA as the next step in deepening Franco-Cypriot cooperation, saying relations with France are at their closest level and that the agreement will strengthen humanitarian military cooperation and joint action at a regional level.
The agreement comes in the wake of a drone strike on Cyprus last month, described as Iranian-made, after which France deployed its carrier strike group from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the region. Macron said at the time that when Cyprus was attacked, it was Europe that was attacked.
The Turkish Cypriot statement said it was following developments surrounding the agreement with great concern. It argued that the agreement, while presented as serving humanitarian purposes, alters the balance of power and security on the island and in the region and negatively affects efforts towards cooperation and dialogue aimed at establishing stability.
Such military agreements, the statement said, aim to boost the Greek Cypriot side’s military capacity under the guise of humanitarian purposes, disregard the sovereign equal rights of the Turkish Cypriot people over the island, and create grounds for tension both between the two sides and at a regional level. It added that Cyprus does not have the authority or competence to conclude such an agreement, nor does it have the right to represent the Turkish Cypriot people or the island as a whole.
The rejection follows similar criticism from other Turkish Cypriot figures. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman questioned whether a solution to the Cyprus problem could be achieved while Turkish Cypriots are excluded from key decision-making processes. The occupied north’s “prime minister” Unal Ustel previously described the arrangement as extremely dangerous, provocative and an unacceptable step, arguing it could seriously damage the atmosphere of peace and tranquillity on the island.
The statement said these policies, pursued while disregarding the inherent rights of Turkish Cypriots, underline the importance of Turkey’s active and effective guarantee and confirm the justness of the determination to deepen defence cooperation with Turkey. Such initiatives, it added, expose the Greek Cypriot side’s uncompromising stance and demonstrate that its rhetoric on a comprehensive solution is not sincere.
The agreement, it concluded, is null and void for the Turkish Cypriot side and the Turkish Cypriot people.
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