British trade envoy resigns over visit to northern Cyprus

(Patria) - Labour Party MP Afzal Khan has resigned as the United Kingdom's trade envoy to Turkey following criticism over his visit last week to the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the BBC reported.

The UK government does not recognise this territory, as Turkish troops have occupied the northern third of Cyprus since the 1974 invasion.

Khan, the MP for Manchester Rusholme, also met with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar - a move described by the Cypriot government as "absolutely condemnable and unacceptable".

He told the BBC that he paid for the trip himself and was visiting his nephew, and also received an honorary degree from an academic institution.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Khan said he believed it was "best to step aside at this time so as not to distract from the hard work the government is doing to secure the best possible trade deals for this country".
He insisted that his visit was "in a personal capacity during the parliamentary recess" and "not connected" to his role as trade envoy.
He also suggested that twenty British MPs had visited northern Cyprus without facing similar criticism.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Wendy Morton welcomed the resignation but said Prime Minister Keir Starmer should have dismissed Khan earlier.

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, also called for the MP's resignation earlier this week.

Christos Karaolis, president of the National Federation of Cypriots in the United Kingdom, said Khan's position was "clearly untenable after his deeply inappropriate and unacceptable visit to occupied northern Cyprus".
A government spokesperson confirmed that Khan had left his position as trade envoy to the Republic of Turkey.