Labour MP Afzal Khan has resigned from his role as the UK's trade envoy to Turkey after Sir Keir Starmer was urged to sack him from his post over an unauthorised trip to the unrecognised statelet of Northern Cyprus.
Mr Khan tendered his resignation just 24 hours after it was revealed that Labour MPs were putting pressure on the Prime Minister to take action.
The Government has since confirmed Mr Khan's decision to leave his post as trade envoy to Turkey, having only been appointed to the position in January this year.
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"Mr Khan has left his position as Trade Envoy to the Republic of Türkiye," a Government spokesman told GB News.
The Manchester Rusholme MP initially sparked fury from Greek Cypriots and British MPs following his decision to visit Northern Cyprus last week.
GB News understands that Mr Khan did not seek No10's approval before visiting the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Despite the UK refusing to recognise the statelet following Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the 67-year-old Labour MP was photographed meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar at his official residence in Nicosia.
Labour MPs this week joined a growing gaggle of MPs and community leaders putting pressure on the Prime Minister to sack Mr Khan.
Afzal Khan, Labour MP and the United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Türkiye, pictured with Ersin Tatar, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus | FFNCYPRUS/XHowever, Mr Khan's resignation also means that the Prime Minister loses his fourth trade envoy in just four weeks.
Sir Keir sacked three Labour MPs from their respective roles as part of the Prime Minister's purge against the mutinous welfare rebels.
Ex-Shadow Mental Health Minister Rosena Allin-Khan was axed as the UK's trade envoy to South Africa.
Meanwhile, Bell Ribeiro-Addy was sacked as the UK's trade envoy to Ghana and Mohammad Yasin was also replaced as trade envoy to Pakistan.
Labour MPs Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin have all been sacked as trade envoys. | PAHowever, the Cypriot Government last week labelled Mr Khan's meeting with Mr Tatar as “absolutely condemnable and unacceptable”, demanding that the UK shows “respect” to their state.
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale, the honorary president of the all-party parliamentary group for Cyprus, said Sir Keir should sack Mr Khan over the unauthorised trip.
“His position as trade envoy is untenable,” Sir Roger said.
Shadow Foreign Minister Wendy Morton also claimed: "This visit risks undermining the UK’s credibility as a guarantor power and as an impartial interlocutor in settlement negotiations.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomes President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, to Downing Street | PA"It also sends a worrying signal to UK citizens of Cypriot heritage, many of whom were displaced from the very areas that Mr Khan visited."
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel, who was forced to quit as Theresa May’s International Development Secretary after holding unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials, also called on Mr Khan to resign, adding that the Prime Minister "must restate Britain's long-standing position on Cyprus".
Meanwhile, Mr Tatar accused his Greek Cypriot critics of making “intolerant statements and excessive attacks”, admitting that the visit was undertaken “at my invitation”.
The 64-year-old, who is a close ally of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Mr Khan that he wanted to pursue a “two-state solution” despite no international recognition of the seized territory.
A man walks past graves of Greek and Cypriot soldiers, who were killed during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, at the Tymvos Macedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia | GETTYMr Khan replied that his Cypriot friends in his Manchester Rusholme constituency urged him to visit the Mediterranean island, adding: “That is why I am happy to be here.”
Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in the summer of 1974, resulting in the displacement of around 200,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots.
Erdogan celebrated the 50th anniversary of the annexation of Northern Cyprus last year, describing the unrecognised territory as the “apple of our eye”.
He said that the invasion “put an end to the 11-year darkness enveloping” the Turkish Cypriots, who constituted 18 per cent of the island’s population in 1974.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to soldiers at the RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus | PAHe said: “The Cyprus peace operation saved Turkish Cypriots from cruelty and brought them to freedom.”
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis shared a blood-stained map of the island to mark “the black anniversary”, adding: “Half a century since the national tragedy of Cyprus.”
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides separately said: “Our mission is liberation, reunification and solving the Cyprus problem.
“If we really want to send a message on this tragic anniversary … it is to do anything possible to reunite Cyprus.”
Turkey's invasion, dubbed Operation Attila, also resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,000 people, with an additional 1,619 being reported missing.