The “Ministry of Foreign Affairs” in the occupied north has described a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning the assault against peacekeepers during unauthorised roadworks in Pyla (Pile in Turkish) as “unfortunate.”
In an announcement on Tuesday, the so-called Ministry said that the construction of the road in Pyla started “for purely humanitarian purposes in order to facilitate the access of our citizens living in the village of Pile to ‘TRNC territory’ as well as their lands in Pile.”
Scuffles broke out on August 18, between UN peacekeepers and Turkish Cypriot security personnel when peacekeepers tried to prevent unauthorised roadworks starting inside the buffer zone near Pyla.
In its announcement, the “Foreign Ministry” claimed that “the events which took place on 18 August 2023 are distorted in the UNSC statement, just like it was distorted in the statements made by the UNFICYP and other parties. The main task of UNFICYP is to maintain tranquility between the sides on the island. However, during the events that took place on 18 August 2023, UNFICYP, by means of its personnel and vehicles, tried to prevent a humanitarian project, which does not entail any military motives. In doing so UNFICYP displayed a provocative attitude.”
Moreover, it accused UNFICYP as being guided by “certain principles” which include obtaining “consent of the parties” and remaining “impartial”.
“UNFICYP did not attempt to get the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side since it started its operations on the island and owes its presence and operations in the ‘TRNC’ solely to the goodwill of the Turkish Cypriot side. This latest incident revealed once again the biased attitude of the UNFICYP, which receives almost half of its budget from Greece and the Greek Cypriot side acting as the spokesperson of only one side on the island,” it added.
The “Foreign Ministry” claims that the “TRNC” has “the sovereign right to develop projects in its own territory that will benefit its citizens, like any other sovereign state.”
Going forward it notes that the UN Security Council “has never warned or intervened against the Greek Cypriot side despite continuous violations in the buffer zone, including the permanent violations, particularly in the village of Pile. Nevertheless, the Security Council’s call for the Pile-Yiğitler road works to be negotiated and carried out by the parties is not a consistent and fair approach.
“UNSC is trying to impose, as it has done so many times in the past, the already exhausted formula. We would like to remind, once again, to the member states of the UNSC that there are two peoples and States in Cyprus, and we would like to emphasize that acknowledging and respecting this fact is the step in the right direction. Reaching an agreement on the Cyprus issue requires the start of a new process that is open to cooperation on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status, within the framework of respect for the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people,” it concluded.
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UNSC, including Russia, condemn Turkish provocations at UN Buffer Zone near Pyla
