The United Nations on Saturday warned hunters in Cyprus against hunting in the island’s buffer zone, stressing that it is “strictly prohibited”.

“Any aggressive or endangering behaviour by hunters against UN peacekeepers or civilians will be reported by the UN’s police force to the local authorities for prompt and proper prosecution,” it said.

The warning comes with hunting season now well underway, and with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in July having warned of “unauthorised hunting, particularly … involving the use of firearms in the buffer zone”.

This, he said, has “continued to occur with high frequency despite [the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus’] repeated protests to the Republic of Cyprus”.

Likewise, the Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign ministry’ had complained last December that “the Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus is systematically attempting to extend its ‘authority’ into the buffer zone, seize land in the buffer zone, and gain an advantage there”.

This, it said, is being done through “various methods”, including “farming, hunting, the unauthorised construction of roads which pass through the lands of Turkish Cypriot property owners, and the construction of universities, cinemas, and shopping malls”.