Farmers from Deneia, escorted by UNFICYP, stayed to finish working their fields in the buffer zone on Wednesday after two uniformed Turks tried to remove them, community leader Charalambos Alexandrou said.
Such incidents have happened two to three times a week over the past two months, he said. “On previous occasions our farmers simply backed down. They always back down because we don’t want to create tension,” he said, adding that all incidents are reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Alexandrou said two farmers from the village went to the area at around 11am to plough and cultivate their fields. While they were working, two Turks, one in military uniform and the other in blue, arrived in a white double-cab pick-up with beacons and markings that pointed to the occupation army. They tried to remove the farmers, claiming that, according to a map from 1998 they were holding, it was the Greek Cypriot farmers who were encroaching on the area.
This time the farmers did not leave. The first farmers left at around 1.30pm and the rest at around 2pm. “They stayed in the area, ploughed, cultivated their fields, finished their work and then left. So this time it was the Turks who were left watching,” Alexandrou said.
He expressed dissatisfaction with how the United Nations had handled the situation. “What displeases us is that they cannot assert their authority over the occupation army,” he said. A member of the peacekeeping force spoke to the occupation army on Wednesday and tried to tell them to leave, Alexandrou said, “but in essence he came and told us that he can’t do anything more, he can’t use force and the Turks won’t leave. In short, he was telling us he couldn’t do anything more. We are asking the United Nations to do that something more.”
They contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Guard while the incident was under way and received assurances, he said. “We will take all the necessary action, as we always do,” he added.
Farmers need to go to the area every day, Alexandrou said. After harvesting, they collect the bales, then plough and prepare the ground so they can sow again when the first rains come. A single field can take three or four visits before sowing is complete.
(Information from Cyprus News Agency)
