The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) strongly condemned UN peacekeeping forces for their involvement in halting road construction aimed at connecting the Turkish Cypriot village of Pile, located in the buffer zone, with the rest of the TRNC.
“The biased and unacceptable attitude of the UN towards the Turkish Cypriot side not only makes the UN’s existence in our country questionable but also damages the reputation and credibility of the UN,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
UN peacekeeping troops’s attempt against road project
The ministry said that UN peacekeeping troops attempted to obstruct the road construction project, deeming their behavior as ‘unacceptable.’
Additionally, the TRNC called upon the UN to adopt a balanced approach toward both the TRNC and the Greek Cyprus Administration.
“The Current Pile – Yiğitler’ road expansion/improvement project has been prepared with the aim of ensuring easy access for the residents of Pile to their lands in the Pile region, promoting economic development for the local community, and enabling passage to the village of Pile without reliance on the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs),” the TRNC’s Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said in a previous statement.
He stressed that the road project was originally and solely designed for humanitarian reasons, to facilitate the everyday activities of the Turkish Cypriots in the village.
UN peacekeeping forces installed concrete barriers at the construction site to halt roadwork, and they positioned their vehicles within TRNC territory. In response, TRNC security forces utilized bulldozers to relocate the vehicles. Subsequently, construction activities resumed following the withdrawal of UN troops from the area.
TRNC on Friday reiterated that there will be no stepping back from the road construction endeavor that aims to link the village of Pile in the buffer zone with the rest of the country.
“The Current Pile – Yiğitler’ Path expansion/improvement project has been prepared with the aim of ensuring easy access for the residents of Pile to their lands in the Pile region, promoting economic development for the local community, and enabling passage to the village of Pile without reliance on the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs),” said TRNC’s foreign minister in a statement.
Ertuğruloğlu stressed that the project was originally and solely designed for humanitarian reasons, to facilitate the life of the Turkish Cypriots in the village.
Adding that the endeavor doesn’t mean to “steal land,” he said: “We face a conspiracy that aims to present the Turkish Cypriot side as the culprit.”
We remain determined to go ahead with the construction of the road, he added.
Moreover, Ertuğruloğlu called United National Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) “not a Turkish-friendly organization” and urged them not to try to prevent the endeavor.
Eight polices were injured
Northern Cypriot police confirmed on Saturday that eight officers were injured in a mayhem with UN peacekeepers over a parking argument on the UN-controlled Green Line that separates the island’s northern and southern halves.
The mayhem between Northern Cypriot police officers and UN peacekeepers erupted around 9 a.m. (0600GMT) on Friday on the Pile-Yiğitler road, which is being constructed and expanded, the General Directorate of Police in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said in a statement.
The UN forces “deliberately” parked their vehicles on the road and blocked access to the area to prevent road construction work by failing to comply with security measures imposed by the General Directorate of Police, said the statement.
By Breaking News Turkey with AA