United Nations undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Tuesday called for calm in the buffer zone after a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides.
He said the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) is making efforts aimed at “de-escalating the tension” in the buffer zone following fears of heightened tensions last week, and said that it is “important that calm prevails”.
Last week’s tensions, centred around the village of Pyla, “demonstrate how important the role of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus is,” he said.
He went on to say that his meeting with Christodoulides had been “very useful and constructive”, and they had discussed “the current situation in the context of the political process regarding the talks between the two sides”.
This, he said, “is, of course, a very important process”.
He added that Unficyp’s role is “to do everything possible to ensure that calm continues to prevail in the buffer zone”, before adding that “the peacekeeping mission is at the service of the political process”.
Earlier in the day, he had been taken on a helicopter tour of the Green Line near Pyla with Unficyp chief Khassim Diagne, and said that he had referred to that excursion during his meeting with Christodoulides.
He said he had told Christodoulides that work is continuing “tirelessly” to de-escalate the situation in Pyla.
“We see that the situation is heading towards de-escalation and we will do everything possible to ensure that this path continues,” he said.
“The presence of a neural and impartial mission in the buffer zone, I believe, is really important, and in this way, we maintain the conditions for political talks to proceed,” he added.
Christodoulides said during the meeting that “the peacekeeping force is very important for us, especially at a time when we are seeing increased violations by the Turkish occupation forces”.
Fears of heightened tensions had arisen in Pyla last week, with a line of Turkish tanks being spotted in the area.
Unficyp spokesman Aleem Siddique confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the tanks were at all times located “north of the northern ceasefire line”, and as such not in the buffer zone, before later confirming that they had departed.
Given Pyla and nearby Pergamos’ proximity to the United Kingdom’s Dhekelia base, British vehicles also deployed to the area, though British bases spokeswoman Korina Orphanides told the Cyprus Mail that vehicles had been deployed only as a precaution and “took no action”, thus indicating that the tanks were also located outside the base.
News website Kibris Postasi quoted military sources as having said that the tanks had been deployed because “the Greek Cypriot authorities attempted to facilitate illegal crossings”, possibly of veterinarians, into the buffer zone near Pyla, “citing an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the Greek Cypriot side”.
As such, the sources said, measures were taken to bolster the Turkish Cypriot security presence in the area.
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