Assistant UN Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča is set to meet with UN peacekeepers in Cyprus who were present in the violent scuffle with the Turkish Cypriot side in the buffer zone near Pyla last Friday.
Jenča will visit Cyprus from Friday, August 27, to Tuesday, August 29.
According to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the Assistant UN Secretary-General will meet on Tuesday with the British and Slovak peacekeepers – some of whom sustained injuries during the incident – to receive a briefing regarding the events, as well as the current situation in the area.
The location for the UN official’s potential visit to the buffer zone in Pyla is yet to be confirmed. This decision will be influenced by the unfolding situation leading up to his arrival in Cyprus, CNA reports. There is a possibility that he might observe the area from a helicopter, which will transport him on Tuesday from Nicosia to Famagusta, where he is scheduled to make a visit accompanied by Slovak peacekeepers.
Jenča, who is scheduled to arrive in Cyprus on Sunday evening, will also participate in a meeting on Monday morning. Following this, he will engage in separate discussions with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. Additionally, he will meet with Colin Stewart, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), along with a team of officers, who will provide him with updates on the latest developments.
On Friday, August 18, 2023, personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side assaulted a group of international peacekeepers inside the buffer zone near Pyla, in the Larnaca district. The altercation occurred as the peacekeepers tried to obstruct crews building a road to link the Turkish-occupied village of Arsos with the mixed village of Pyla.
On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, members of the UN Security Council condemned the incidents that took place in the UN-patrolled buffer zone.
Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side have asserted that the planned road is being built for “humanitarian purposes,” while the Republic of Cyprus effectively views it as a breach of its territorial integrity and a violation of the UN-maintained status quo.
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