Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called the UN’s condemnation of Friday’s incident in Cyprus “out of touch with reality”, where, according to the organization, Turkish-Cypriot forces attacked peacekeepers trying to block the construction of a controversial road.
“The United Nations Security Council statement is completely disconnected from the realities on the ground. Rather than making a positive contribution to the problem, this statement makes the process more difficult,” said the ministry, which implicates the blue helmets in the incident.
“The notification concerning the road works was made well in advance. The physical intervention of the blue helmets (…) caused the tensions”, he added.
The incident, one of the most serious in several years, drew 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 Green Line, or buffer zone, 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.
After a closed-door meeting on Monday, the United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks, which could “constitute a crime under international law”.
“This action is contrary to Security Council resolutions and constitutes a violation of the status quo in the UN buffer zone,” the 15-member council insisted.
The incident came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to reconnect with his Western allies, hoping for a reopening of negotiations for Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
“We are waiting for the EU to revise its hardline stance” on Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday.
“Resolving the Cyprus issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions will be the key to re-engagement with Turkey,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell said in July.
Negotiations for Turkey’s accession, started in 2005, are deeply bogged down, to the point that the EU declared them in 2018 “at a standstill” due to a policy deemed contrary to European interests and a ” continuous decline” of fundamental rights.
Relations were very tense after the failed putsch attempt in July 2016 and the repression affecting opponents and journalists that followed.
22/08/2023 13:14:02 — Ankara (AFP) © 2023 AFP
