The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning condemning the “assault” on peacekeepers by Turkish Cypriot personnel on Friday.
He said “threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and may constitute serious crimes under international law”.
Additionally, he urged the Turkish Cypriot side to “respect the authority of Unficyp [THE UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS] as mandated by the Security Coucncil and to withdraw all personnel and machinery from the buffer zone immediately”.
He also called on them to “constructively re-engage with Unficyp to find a mutually agreeable way forward in the Pyla area”.
He concluded his statement by saying he “reiterates his long-standing call on the parties to refrain from taking any unilateral actions that may raise tensions and compromise finding a mutually acceptable way forward”.
Meanwhile, Unficyp spokesman Aleem Siddique said on Saturday morning said Unficyp is “ready to take action if necessary to prevent the resumption of any unauthorised construction work in the buffer zone”.
He said peacekeepers are monitoring the situation in the area and described the state of affairs on Saturday morning as “calm”.
Turkish Cypriot authorities announced their intention to construct a road through the buffer zone between the villages of Pyla and Arsos on Thursday.
UN peacekeepers attempted to block access to the road on Friday morning and were “violently pushed back” by Turkish Cypriot personnel.
One peacekeeper was punched in the face and three in total received treatment for minor injuries, while multiple UN vehicles were rendered “undriveable” after being dragged off the road by Turkish Cypriot machinery.
The incident provoked widespread condemnation from across the globe.
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