Turkish Cypriot forces on Friday (August 18th) attacked peacekeepers trying to block construction of a controversial road in the buffer zone dividing Cyprus, the UN mission on the island reported. Plainclothes Turkish Cypriot police and military beat a peacekeeper and assaulted a dozen others, “pushing them violently”, according to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The incident took place in Pyla, a south coast village on the ‘Green Line’, where the UN patrols, which divides the island between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Cyprus. North (RTCN), self-proclaimed and recognized by Turkey alone, which invaded the northern third of the island in 1974.
« Crime grave »
The UN mission had warned the Turkish Cypriot authorities on Thursday against “unauthorized construction activities inside the UN buffer zone”. According to a statement from the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP): “Threats to the security of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime. under international law, which will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. »
The spokesman for the government of the Republic of Cyprus, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, denounced “a very serious attempt to violate the status quo”. The United States, France and the United Kingdom expressed in a joint statement their “great concern over the unauthorized construction of a road leading to the UN buffer zone, and the attacks by Turkish Cypriot forces on blue helmets”.
Efforts to reunite the island have stalled since the collapse of the last round of UN-backed talks in 2017.