Attacking UN personnel is “unacceptable and criminal” under international law said U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement after Turkish Cypriot security forces attacked UN Peacekeepers in Pyla, urging at the same time the UN Secretary General to appoint an envoy ‘to help reinvigorate negotiations to find a long-term settlement’.
Menendez said he ‘strongly’ condemns the attacks on UN peacekeeping forces and their property in Pyla. ‘Attacking UN personnel is unacceptable and criminal under international law. UN peacekeepers play a critical role in helping promote calm and stability’, he said.
The Senator said that Turkish Cypriot forces ‘must immediately take responsibility and stop any further escalatory actions that risk not only the lives of UN peacekeepers but also of overall stability on the island’. They must further halt any unauthorized construction in the area aimed at undermining the peacekeeping mission and the agreed-upon buffer zone, he added.
‘These antagonizing actions only serve to promote instability and violence’, the Senator said. He also ‘strongly’ urged the UN Secretary General to appoint an envoy ‘to help reinvigorate negotiations to find a long-term settlement’.
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.
Source: Cyprus News Agency