ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the physical intervention of United Nations peacekeepers during roadworks in the south of ethnically split Cyprus last week is unacceptable.
“The physical intervention of U.N. Peacekeeping Force soldiers on the territory that falls under the sovereignty of the TRNC is never acceptable to us,” Erdogan said following the weekly cabinet meeting.
“It is neither legal nor humane to prevent Turkish Cypriots living in Pyla village from reaching their homeland.”
Scuffles broke out on Friday between U.N. peacekeepers and Turkish Cypriot security personnel when peacekeepers tried to prevent roadworks starting in an area the U.N. says is part of a buffer zone under its jurisdiction.
Erdogan also said Turkey will continue to side with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara.
Turkish Cypriot authorities want to build a road that would give residents of Pyla/Pile, a village in the U.N.-administered buffer zone, direct access to territory under Turkish Cypriot control.
Turkish Cypriot authorities say the peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP, overstepped its boundaries. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar characterised the road project as essential.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
