An uneasy calm reigns in the buffer zone on the divided island of Cyprus on Monday, as the UN on Friday accused Turkish-Cypriot forces of physically attacking peacekeepers who tried to block the construction of a controversial road.
The incident, one of the most serious in several years, has drawn widespread international condemnation. He performed in Pyla (Pile in Turkish), the only village where Greek and Turkish Cypriots live side by side, on the UN-monitored Green Line.
The buffer zone, or Green Line, divides the island between the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union and exercising its authority in the south, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), self-declared and recognized only by Turkey. , which invaded the northern third of the island in 1974 in response to a coup by Greek-Cypriot nationalists wishing to reunite the country with Greece.
The UN said four peacekeepers were injured and their vehicles damaged as they tried to block “unauthorized construction work” near Pyla.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan implicated the peacekeepers on Monday.
“The intervention of the blue helmets (…) is inadmissible for us. (…) With their intervention towards the villagers and their inappropriate statements, the blue helmets undermined their impartiality and their already damaged reputation”, said the Turkish head of state.
“The situation is calm today (Monday) after the attacks of last week,” said the spokesman for Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric.
Earlier in the day, the spokesman for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp), Aleem Siddique, told AFP that the mission stood “ready to block any resumption of construction work “, adding that the injured peacekeepers had been discharged from the hospital.
Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said meetings had been held internally and with permanent members of the UN Security Council over the tensions.
He stressed on Monday the importance of having “at this time, a very delicate and specific approach” on the subject.
The UN Security Council was to meet on Monday behind closed doors to consider the issue.
The authorities of the TRNC, according to which the project aims to facilitate the movements of its population, rejected the “unfounded” allegations of the UN mission.
Veysel Guden, the Turkish Cypriot mayor of Pyla, said construction of the road would continue on Monday in Turkish Cypriot-controlled areas, but workers would not enter the UN-controlled area.
“Diplomacy will be given a chance. Discussions will continue,” Guden told AFP.
According to local media, talks were held on Monday between the TRNC and the UN.
Efforts to reunite the divided island have stalled since the collapse of the UN-backed round of talks in 2017, the latest.
21/08/2023 21:11:11 – Nicosia (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
