UN Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, arrives in Cyprus at noon on Wednesday for a three-day visit during which he will basically focus on the controversial village of Pyla’s state of play.
Last month, the United Nations reached an “understanding” to defuse a standoff in divided Cyprus which triggered scuffles in UN-controlled Pyla village involving peacekeepers in August.
Cyprus is divided since a 1974 invasion by Turkey and the latest dispute was sparked after Turkish Cypriots attempted to construct a road traversing United Nations-controlled territory.
Turkish Cypriot members of the breakaway north’s ‘police’ attacked and injured UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) members trying to prevent them from illegally building a road leading directly from the area they control to the mixed village.
Lacroix is set to hold separate meetings on Wednesday afternoon with Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
Lacroix will visit the buffer zone in Pyla area on Thursday afternoon for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and the works already taking place there, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
Lacroix will also have meetings in Ledra Palace with representatives of civil society from both sides of the divide – specifically, with women and youth organisations.
