The UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus took action on Wednesday afternoon to stop a new violation of the buffer zone in Agios Dometios area in Nicosia, after men of the Turkish occupation army entered the buffer zone on a military vehicle.
A source told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that after noticing the entrance of the vehicle with the soldiers, UNFICYP staff asked them to leave and they did so.
Asked by CNA, UNFICYP spokesperson Aleem Siddique said late in the afternoon that “there are no vehicles or personnel from the Turkish Forces inside the UN buffer zone.”
“UN peacekeepers remain present in the area and are continuing to engage with both sides to prevent violations and restore the status quo,” he added.
On Monday afternoon, the Turkish occupation forces entered the buffer zone – UN-controlled land separating the northern Turkish occupied areas from the southern government-controlled part of the country – in the area of Agios Dometios, and installed on an uninhabited residence there, a metal mast on which a rotating camera and antenna were mounted.
Monday’s incident follows another one last August, when Turkish Cypriots punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews illegally working on a road that would encroach on a U.N. controlled buffer zone in the area of Pyla, in the Larnaca district.
The international community, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, condemned August’s attack. Later on, an understanding was reached which provides that a single urban development area would be created, which would ensure the harmonious coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the area of Pyla. Works, that begun based on this understanding, were temporarily halted earlier this month to resolve complaints by some Turkish Cypriot land owners, who believe that their plots are affected.
(Cyprus News Agency)
