Nicosia,(Samajweekly) The UN Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has said that the situation near a village of the island’s buffer zone has calmed after an eruption of violence last week, but there were mixed reactions to the UNSC statement on the incident.
The Security Council on Monday condemned an assault on UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles in Cyprus by Turkish Cypriot personnel, which was confirmed by UNFICYP on Friday.
The attacks took place in Pyla, a village in the buffer zone dividing the eastern Mediterranean island, on the southeastern coast where both Greek and Turkish Cypriots live, Xinhua news agency reported.
While the Cypriot authorities on Tuesday welcomed the Security Council’s statement, the Turkish Cypriot side was critical, saying “the UNSC has distorted the picture” and that UNFICYP’s soldiers and vehicles had “displayed a provocative attitude”.
The incident on Friday concerned an attempt by the Turkish Cypriot side to build a road between Pyla and another village located in the Turkish-controlled Cypriot area.
A Foreign Ministry statement said it expected “an immediate end to the illegal actions of the Turkish side, based on the call of the UNSC to remove all illegal constructions and prevent further such actions, military or non-military, within and along the ceasefire line”.
It added that the continuation of the Turkish Cypriot actions in the buffer zone would “have a negative effect on the current efforts to restart negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus question, but also in relation to the future of EU-Turkish relations”.
In a press statement issued on Monday, the UN Security Council members said that attacks targetting peacekeepers may constitute crimes under international law and reaffirmed their full commitment to the safety and security of all UN personnel.
The buffer zone, which is controlled by the UNFICYP, separates the part of Cyprus under the jurisdiction of the government from the part of the island controlled by Turkish troops since a military operation mounted by Turkey in 1974.
The Turkish Cypriot side has not given any indication whether it could heed the Security Council’s demands to immediately stop the construction in the buffer zone.
On Tuesday, UNFICYP spokesperson Aleem Siddique said that the situation in the buffer zone was quiet.
“All remains calm. We are monitoring the area closely,” he was quoted by Cyprus Mail as saying.
