UN renews peacekeepers in Cyprus for six more months

THE U.N. Security Council yesterday approved a six-month renewal of the four decade-old peacekeeping force in Cyprus and said Turkey should remove restrictions on the UN troops.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended in a recent report that the 1,230 military personnel and 42 police and civilians stay in place until there was a comprehensive political settlement, although there were few incidents around the cease-fire line.

The extension for the UN force, first deployed in 1964, runs until June 15, by which time the United Nations and the European Union hope there will be a settlement for the divided island.

Cyprus will join the European Union next May, regardless of whether there is a settlement. Turkey is expected to push for new talks after Turkish Cypriot elections in December.

The council’s resolution, adopted by a 15-0 vote, said Turkish troops still did not allow full freedom of movement for the peacekeepers and urged them to do so.
It also expressed concern, for the third consecutive year for violations by Turkish forces and Turkish Cypriot authorities at Strovilia, surrounded by Turkish Cypriots on one side and British bases on the other.

The resolution said they should “restore the military status quo which existed prior to June 30, 2000.” Turkish troops were reported to carry out construction in the buffer zone.
Since April, the Turkish Cypriot authorities have allowed partial freedom of movement from one sector to another, the first such opening in almost three decades. Annan noted that as of November 2, a total of 2 million visits had been made across the line.

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.