UK trade envoy resigns over Northern Cyprus visit

Labour MP Afzal Khan has resigned as the UK’s trade envoy to Turkey following criticism of his visit last week to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The territory isn’t recognised by the UK government as Turkish troops have occupied Cyprus’ northern third since the 1974 invasion.

Mr Khan, the MP for Manchester Rusholme, also met Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar – a move which the Cypriot government described as “absolutely condemnable and unacceptable”.

Mr Khan told the BBC he paid for the trip himself and was visiting his nephew, alongside receiving an honorary degree from an academic institution.

In a letter to the prime minister today, Mr Khan said he felt it was “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”.

But he insisted his visit had been “in a personal capacity during the parliamentary recess” and was “unrelated” to his role as a trade envoy.

He also suggested that 20 British parliamentarians had visited northern Cyprus without attracting similar criticism.

The shadow foreign minister Wendy Morton welcomed the resignation, but said Sir Keir Starmer should have sacked Mr Khan sooner.

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 UK, said that Mr Khan’s position “was clearly untenable following his deeply inappropriate and unacceptable visit to occupied northern Cyprus”.

A Government spokesperson confirmed Mr Khan has left his position as Trade Envoy to the Republic of Türkiye.