UN says Turkish buoy replacement ‘routine’

By Jean Christou

UNFICYP said yesterday that work carried out by the Turkish Cypriot side on buoys near the Maritime Security Line (MSL) on Saturday was just routine.

“We looked into the reports and it seems it was just a matter of routine maintenance,” said Unficyp spokeswoman Sarah Russell.

Russell said Unficyp has on record other incidents in which the buoys had been replaced in the past, adding that the Turks appeared to replace the buoys on a regular basis.

On Saturday morning, a Turkish vessel entered the MSL area, the seaward extension of the 180km buffer zone dividing the island and replaced three buoys.

The incident was filmed by Antenna television, which showed footage of a Turkish naval ship at work in the area.

Diko Deputy Marios Matsakis was on board a nearby dinghy, which approached the Turkish vessel. Fisherman reacted to the appearance of the Turkish vessel with “concern and fear”, according to the Cyprus News Agency.

Russell told the Cyprus Mail that the UN had no record of an official protest being lodged by the Greek Cypriot side over the action, although sources told CNA on Sunday that a protest had been lodged.

The MSL is often a source of added tension between both sides. Several Greek Cypriot fisherman have had warning shots fired across their bows or been arrested after mistakenly crossing the line.

The Turkish side says that Greek Cypriot fishermen and pleasure boats deliberately cross the MSL as a provocation.

The UN has repeatedly warned over the danger of incidents in the area, and has recently sought to improved markings on the shore.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.