UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Colin Stewart, continues his meetings and discussions with both sides in Cyprus, with a view to find a mutually acceptable way forward as regards the issue related to the buffer zone in Pyla area, a well-informed source has told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), adding that diplomatic consultations on this matter are still underway.
Meanwhile, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenča, arrives on Sunday evening in Cyprus and will have separate meetings with Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, and with Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar on Monday. His trip was planned before the events of August 18th in the buffer zone in Pyla.
Responding to a question, the source told CNA that Stewart continues his meetings and his discussions with the two sides in Cyprus with a view to reach a mutually acceptable way forward as regards the issue of the buffer zone in Pyla area.
The source added that the situation on the ground is calm and that peacekeepers who maintain presence in the area monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenča, arrives on Sunday August 27 in Cyprus with a view to listen to the two leaders and inform the UN Secretary – General when he returns to New York about the positions they will outline to him during their discussions.
The aim is for the UN official to see if there is scope for a joint meeting, during the second half of September, of the two leaders with the UNSG in New York, from which something positive might come out.
Jenča will meet on Monday morning at the Presidential Palace with President Nikos Christodoulides while later he will meet in the Turkish occupied areas of the island with Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, who has rejected a proposal by Christodoulides for a joint meeting of the two leaders with the UN official.
On Tuesday, Jenča will fly on a helicopter from Nicosia to the buffer zone in Famagusta area, which he will visit accompanied by Slovak peacekeepers, while in the evening he will leave the island.
Members of the UN Security Council condemned on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, the incidents in the buffer zone, in the village of Pyla, in Larnaca district, with assaults against UN peacekeepers, reiterating their full support for UNFICYP
They also condemned the attacks on UN peacekeepers and the damage to UN vehicles by Turkish Cypriot personnel and wished a speedy and full recovery to the peacekeepers who were injured. They emphasized that “attacks against peacekeepers may constitute crimes under international law and reaffirmed their full commitment to the safety of all UN personnel.”
On Friday August 18, 2023 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.
The attack happened as peacekeepers stood in the way of work crews building a road to connect the Turkish occupied village of Arsos with the mixed Greek Cypriot-Turkish Cypriot village of Pyla, inside the buffer zone.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.