Ankara has launched a fierce attack on the European Union after the European Parliament adopted a new resolution on Cyprus, accusing Brussels of a “biased approach” and rejecting the text’s references to the role of the Turkish armed forces on the island.

In a statement issued late on Thursday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the resolution as “null and void,” arguing that it contains “baseless and absurd accusations against the heroic Turkish armed forces.”

Ankara cites “slander,” backs the breakaway north

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also expressed full support for a statement issued by the foreign ministry of the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” the breakaway administration in the north of the island that is recognised only by Turkey and considered illegal under international law by the EU and the United Nations.

Describing the European Parliament’s text as “rife with repugnant slander,” Ankara argued that it amounts to “the latest example of the biased and distorted approach adopted by the EU, and especially the European Parliament, under the influence of certain circles, regarding the Cyprus issue.”

“The EU is straying from impartiality,” Turkey says

Ankara also voiced concern over what it called the increasingly one-sided stance taken by European institutions on the Cyprus dispute, which has divided the island since Turkey’s 1974 invasion following a Greek-backed coup.

“It is concerning that the EU institutions are increasingly approaching the Cyprus issue in a manner that strays from historical realities and impartiality,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in its statement.