Nicosia: Fully committed to international law, has been in constant communication with the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) from the very beginning, supporting efforts for de-escalation, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Wednesday in a written statement regarding the violation of the buffer zone in the Plati area, north of Pyla community, by the occupying regime.
According to Cyprus News Agency, in his written statement, Letymbiotis also stressed that this action aims to create new faits accomplis by the occupation regime. It is expected, he added, that the peacekeeping force will continue to take all necessary measures and actions needed to prevent the creation of faits accomplis.
In recent days, there has been a violation of the buffer zone in the Plati area, north of Pyla, by occupying forces, in violation of the current status and international law. This, the Spokesman emphasized, constitutes "an action aimed at questioning the status of the buffer zone, the role and terms of UNFICYP's mandate, as well as at creating new occupation faits accomplis."
"The Republic of Cyprus, fully committed to international law, has been in constant communication with UNFICYP from the very beginning, supporting the efforts for de-escalation," Letymbiotis reiterated. At the same time, he acknowledged UNFICYP's immediate reaction to the said violation and its relevant public position.
"It is therefore expected that the peacekeeping force will continue to take all necessary measures and proceed with all required actions to prevent the creation of faits accomplis, as it has been doing so far, within the framework of its duty and terms of mandate," he concluded.
It is recalled that UNFICYP reiterated that unauthorized entry, presence, or activity within the buffer zone constitutes a violation of the Mission's mandate and underlined that respect for the Mission's mandate is essential to maintaining stability in this sensitive area.
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion. Numerous peace talks under the UN aegis with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results. The latest round of talks took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana.
UNFICYP, comprising over 800 military personnel from about seven troop-contributing countries, arrived in Cyprus in March 1964 after inter-communal fighting broke out. The mandate of the force is renewed every year by the Security Council. UNFICYP's mandate is to contribute to the restoration of normal conditions and entails the facilitation of an increasingly wide range of civilian activities.
In August 2023, Turkish Cypriots punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews illegally working on a road that would encroach on a UN-controlled buffer zone in the area of Pyla, in the Larnaca district. A series of similar violations have occurred since. The international community, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, condemned the attack.