The members of the UN Security Council condemn the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by Turkish Cypriot personnel, a draft Security Council press statement on the situation in Cyprus will say.
The UNSC is convening later Monday to discuss, inter alia, the incident that took place Friday in the Buffer Zone in Pyla village with attacks against UN peacekeepers as well as the Turkish plans in the area and a press statement is expected to be issued.
The draft Security Council press statement on the situation in Cyprus will say that ‘the members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the launch of unauthorised construction work by the Turkish Cypriot side, inside the UN Buffer Zone near Pyla/Pile, which runs contrary to Security Council resolutions’, as CNA learned.
The members of the UNSC ‘condemned the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by Turkish Cypriot personnel and wished a speedy and full recovery to the peacekeepers who were injured”. They underlined that “attacks targeting peacekeepers can constitute crimes under international law’.
Also, the draft statement will read: ‘The members of the Security Council called for the Turkish Cypriot side to halt unauthorized construction immediately. The members of the SC expressed their full support for UNFICYP and its mandated authority in and delineation of the buffer zone and called for the removal of all unauthorized military or civilian activities within and along the ceasefire lines’.
It will add that the members of the SC also reaffirmed their commitment to an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement in accordance with the wished of the Cypriot people, and based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions. Furthermore, they encouraged both sides to take tangible steps in support of the efforts of the SRSG to promote a conducive climate.
The members of the Security Council agreed to remain seized of the matter, the statement will conclude.
Source: Cyprus News Agency