Cyprus is tense as Turkish Cypriot forces destroy UN vehicles and assault peacekeepers

International outrage was expressed after Turkish Cypriot soldiers were charged with assaulting UN personnel on Friday while attempting to obstruct the building of a contentious motorway in the buffer zone separating Cyprus.

In Pyla, an ethnically diverse hamlet in the UN-patrolled region between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north, a conflict took place.

Bulldozers shoving away UN-branded SUVs, cement barricades, razor wire, and a group of Turkish Cypriot police shooing away soldiers in blue berets were all seen in a video that was extensively circulated on social media. AFP was unable to independently confirm the video right away.

The UN mission said that while attempting to stop “unauthorized construction work” close to Pyla, the only hamlet where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots coexist, its forces were attacked.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) issued a statement condemning the attacks on UN forces and the destruction of UN vehicles this morning by Turkish Cypriot personnel.

The UN head “stresses that threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and may constitute serious crimes under international law,” according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric.

A member of the European Union, Cyprus, condemned “organized incidents caused by the Turkish occupying forces… and the unacceptable attack against British and Slovak members of the UN peacekeeping force.”

Along with the United States, Britain, France, and the EU, who issued a joint statement expressing “serious concern at the launch of unauthorised construction” of the road, the EU also denounced the event.

The claims made by the UN mission were rejected as “baseless” by the authorities in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, who assert that the road project is intended to improve the situation of their citizens.

In a statement, the TRNC said that it expected UNFICYP to “review its biased stance, put an immediate end to its physical interferences, and put an end to its blockade efforts” of the roadwork.

“FAITS Accomplished”

An official said that Turkish Cypriot police and military personnel had attacked 12 other peacekeepers by “pushing them back violently” and had hit one of them.

According to the source, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, three cars had sustained significant damage and a tractor was used to push a UN vehicle out of the road.

The UN mission pleaded with the Turkish Cypriot side in its statement to “respect the mission’s mandated authority inside the UN buffer zone, refrain from any actions that could escalate tensions, and withdraw all personnel and machinery from the UN buffer zone immediately.”

UNFICYP said that it would stay in the region and was intended to obstruct any building.

“The mission is closely monitoring the situation and remains committed to ensuring calm and stability are maintained in the area,” it stated.

By building a road linking the “occupied village of Arsos with a forward illegal military outpost,” the Turkish side is allegedly attempting to establish fresh “faits accomplis” at Pyla, according to Konstantinos Letymbiotis, a spokesperson for the Cypriot administration.

The Turkish road project was labeled “an attempt at a very serious violation of the status quo” by the spokesperson.

A “HUMANITARIAN OBJECTIVE”

The construction of the road, according to Turkish Cypriot officials, had a “humanitarian objective” and was “meant to make it easier for our citizens living in the village of Pile to access TRNC territory.”

Despite this, they said, UN forces had “physically assaulted… our road construction teams as well as our police, who are present in the area only to provide safety.” It is inappropriate for UNFICYP to take this position.

Since Turkish troops invaded Cyprus’ northern third in 1974 in retaliation for a military coup backed by the Greek junta in power at the time, Cyprus has remained split.

Only Ankara recognizes the republic that Turkish Cypriot authorities declared to be a state in 1983.

Since the previous round of UN-sponsored negotiations broke down in 2017, efforts to reunite Cyprus have been at a halt.

Ersin Tatar, a representative of the Turkish Cypriot leadership and a close ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has pleaded with the international community to “acknowledge the existence” of two nations in Cyprus.

The Greek Cypriot leadership of the Republic of Cyprus has rejected his proposals for a two-state solution and has said that they continue to favor a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in accordance with previous UN peace plans.