Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme and the UK’s trade envoy to Turkey, resigned his post on Friday, August 15, 2025, after a storm of criticism erupted over his recent visit to the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus. The resignation, confirmed by the British government and widely reported by outlets including the BBC and The Guardian, has sent ripples through diplomatic circles in London, Nicosia, and Ankara, exposing the enduring sensitivities surrounding the divided Mediterranean island.
Khan’s trip, undertaken on August 8, was initially described by the MP as a personal journey. According to statements made to the press and in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Khan insisted he had paid for the journey himself, traveled to visit family, and received an honorary degree from a local university. However, it was his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar—and the photographs taken beneath the flag of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus—that drew sharp rebuke from the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as from Cypriot diaspora groups and opposition politicians in the UK.
Britain, in line with United Nations resolutions, does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which declared independence in 1983 following Turkey’s invasion and occupation of the northern third of the island in 1974. Only Turkey has ever acknowledged the breakaway state, and the United Kingdom, as a guarantor power under the island’s founding treaties, has consistently refused to engage in official diplomatic relations with the entity. The Cypriot government, based in the Greek-speaking south, was quick to denounce Khan’s actions, calling them “absolutely condemnable and unacceptable.”
“The recent illegal visit of British MP Afzal Khan to the areas of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkiye, as well as his meeting with [the territory’s leader] Mr Ersin Tatar were unacceptable and provocative actions,” the Cypriot foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, as reported by The Guardian. The ministry welcomed Khan’s resignation, describing it as “an important development, which at this particular time has even greater significance.” The statement added, “It is clear … there must, and may be, political consequences regarding [the north] … especially for those who foster, assist or tolerate it.”
Khan, for his part, acknowledged the uproar his visit had caused. In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Starmer, he wrote, “I feel it is best to stand down at this time so not to distract from the hard work the government is doing to secure the best possible trade deals for this country.” He further defended his actions, stating the trip was conducted “in a personal capacity during the parliamentary recess.”
The UK Foreign Office echoed this explanation, noting that Mr. Khan’s visit “was undertaken in a personal capacity.” Nevertheless, mounting pressure from Cypriot groups, opposition MPs, and members of his own Labour Party made his position increasingly untenable. Prime Minister Starmer ultimately accepted Khan’s resignation on Friday, a decision that was welcomed by the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK. The Federation’s president, Christos Karaolis, was unequivocal: “Afzal Khan was right to resign as the UK trade envoy to Turkey following his deeply inappropriate and unacceptable visit to the occupied north of Cyprus. His actions compromised the UK’s longstanding foreign policy on Cyprus, contravened international law and disrespected the lived experiences of our UK Cypriot community, many of whom are refugees or descendants of those forcibly displaced by Turkey’s 1974 invasion.”
Opposition politicians, meanwhile, criticized Prime Minister Starmer for what they saw as a delay in removing Khan from his post, accusing him of “serious poor judgment.” The episode has reignited debate within Westminster about the UK’s policy toward Cyprus and the delicate balance required in its relations with both Ankara and Nicosia.
The timing of Khan’s visit added further fuel to the controversy. It coincided with the 51st anniversary of the Turkish military intervention on the island, which began in July 1974 after a coup backed by the Athens junta attempted to unite Cyprus with Greece. The two-phase invasion resulted in Turkish forces seizing 37% of the island’s territory, leading to the mass displacement of populations—Greek Cypriots moving south of a UN-patrolled ceasefire line, Turkish Cypriots moving north. Turkey has maintained approximately 35,000 troops in the north ever since.
In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot administration unilaterally declared independence, a move swiftly condemned as “legally invalid” by the UN Security Council. Successive British governments have refused to recognize the breakaway state or engage in official relations. Despite ongoing efforts by Turkish Cypriot authorities to gain international recognition, only the Republic of Cyprus is acknowledged by the global community.
Efforts to resolve the island’s division have been ongoing for decades, with the latest round of United Nations-facilitated talks in New York in July 2025 ending without a breakthrough. The unresolved status of Cyprus continues to be a major stumbling block in Turkey’s relations with the European Union and complicates broader regional diplomacy.
The diplomatic row over Khan’s visit also played out within the Turkish Cypriot leadership. Ersin Tatar, the hardline nationalist leader of the north who advocates for a two-state solution, decried the pressure put on Khan. “The fact that an elected MP was forced to resign from his position as the UK’s trade envoy to Turkey simply for engaging with the Turkish Cypriot people is a warning sign for all those who believe in democracy and equality,” Tatar said, as reported by The Guardian. Tatar’s comments underscored the deep divisions between the two communities and the competing narratives that persist more than half a century after the island’s partition.
Cyprus’s division remains one of Europe’s most intractable frozen conflicts. When Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Cyprus last year—the first such visit by a British prime minister in over five decades—he refused to meet Tatar, instead holding talks with the Republic’s president, Nikos Christodoulides. The message from London was clear: the UK would not accord legitimacy to the breakaway administration in the north.
For many in the UK’s sizeable Cypriot diaspora—composed of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots—the episode was a painful reminder of the unresolved trauma of 1974 and the ongoing struggle for a reunified island. “We now look ahead to continued collaboration with HM government in support of a free and reunited Cyprus,” Karaolis said, reflecting a sentiment shared by many in the community.
The resignation of Afzal Khan may have defused immediate tensions, but it has also highlighted the enduring challenges of diplomacy in a region where history is never far from the surface. The events of the past week serve as a stark reminder that, for Cyprus, the wounds of division remain raw and the path to reconciliation is as fraught as ever.
