UN mission in Cyprus still needed, says Annan

UNITED Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan has recommended that UN peacekeepers in Cyprus stay in the divided island for another six months, although he reported few incidents along the ceasefire line.

But the 39-year-old mission of 1,230 military personnel and 42 police and civilians is still needed until there is a comprehensive political settlement, Annan said in his latest report to the UN Security Council.

However, he also said he would not resume his recent failed effort, abandoned in April, to achieve a political solution between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. “It remains my position that no purpose would be served by renewing my mission of good offices unless there were a readiness on the part of both Cypriot parties, as well as Greece and Turkey, to finalise negotiations,” he said.

Annan also reported that the peacekeepers had provided facilities for 128 bicommunal events in the UN buffer zone since April, bringing together 11,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
But he again criticised Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot authorities for refusing to give the UN mission unhindered access “through its entire area of responsibility”.

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.