UN visitors ordered out of Famagusta

A GROUP of UN officers on a cultural tour of occupied Famagusta were ordered out of the occupied areas by Turkish Cypriot military police.

Failure to leave the area immediately would result in their arrest, they were told.

The incident occurred on Saturday when a convoy of ten cars crossed over to the occupied areas as part of the UN Officers’ Club’s cultural tours of the north and south. The group of sightseers included ambassadors, EU members, UN officials and civilians.

Three of the 10 cars were UN vehicles carrying three uniformed staff and other civilian staff in plainclothes.

When the group reached the centre of Famagusta town it was stopped by three plainclothes Turkish Cypriot military police who had been following the car from the moment it had entered the district.

The Turkish Cypriot ‘authorities’ told the UN officials that they would be escorted out of the occupied areas or face arrest.

A heated discussion is believed to have followed with the Turkish Cypriot side telling the group that UN personnel were not allowed into the walled city of Famagusta unless they were on official business with a letter stating the purpose of the visit.

“Apparently if you are civilian UN worker you cannot go there in a UN car. You have to go in a civilian car,” one of the group said.

In the end the group turned back and returned to the free areas.

UNFICYP spokesman Jose Diaz said the UN was looking into the matter and was seeking clarification of the exact procedure and how it was applied.

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.