UN: Greek Cypriot side dangerously blurs lines between civilian and military facilities
Cyprus’ defence ministry is dangerously and deliberately blurring the lines between civilian and military facilities by “disguising military positions within civilian structures”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. In a dr
Cyprus’ defence ministry is dangerously and deliberately blurring the lines between civilian and military facilities by “disguising military positions within civilian structures”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
In a draft of his latest bi-annual report on the actions of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) seen by the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday, he wrote that the most recent example of this was at a research institution on the edge of the buffer zone in Nicosia.
He wrote that the research institution in question had “received instructions from the defence ministry to incorporate reinforced firing ports in their perimeter wall”.
“Unficyp continued to protest this policy with the Republic of Cyprus’ authorities, which is not only considered a military violation but also dangerously blurs the lines between civilian and military facilities,” he said.
In his observations on the matter at the end of the report, he wrote, “the policy of deliberately blurring the lines between military and civilians by disguising military positions within civilian structures raises serious humanitarian concerns, as it may put civilians at risk”.
Elsewhere in the report, he had written that “military violations on both sides persisted, with a high number of unauthorised installations of military-grade surveillance equipment, and continued disregard shown by both sides towards the mission’s authority in the buffer zone through repeated incursions”.
These incursions, he wrote, included in the village of Pyla, where a mutual understanding had been reached to construct a road through the buffer zone to the nearby village of Arsos, but was never implemented following disagreements between the two sides.
Guterres wrote that Unficyp has “sustained engagements with both sides to seek a way forward” and that “in the meantime, the situation on the Pyla plateau remained calm overall, although incursions by Turkish Cypriot police into the buffer zone area on the plateau persisted on a nearly daily basis”.
Later, he wrote that the number of incursions into the buffer zone near Pyla numbered 1,245 as of November 30, “despite the mission’s protests”.
The other major point of contention on the buffer zone came regarding asylum seekers, with Guterres writing that “a total of 142 asylum seekers, including 35 children as young as nine months old, were stranded in the buffer zone following a decision by the Republic … to deny them access to asylum procedures and force them back into the buffer zone”.
“This emergency situation compelled the mission to provide emergency humanitarian support in coordination with the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR),” he said, with the aim of bringing “an end to the pushbacks and to the repeated incursions of the Greek Cypriot immigration police unit into the buffer zone”.
This was achieved starting in September, with the last asylum seekers being taken into the Republic on November 14, six months after the incident had begun.
Guterres wrote that the dispute over asylum seekers “impacted the mission’s resources and occupied much of Unficyp’s engagements with the Republic”, adding that “both sides showed disregard for the mission’s authority in the buffer zone as they pursued unabated their unauthorised constructions in and around the buffer zone”.
He later added that the six-month reporting period was “marked by the forcible pushbacks of asylum seekers into the buffer zone” by the Republic’s police.
“Regrettably, police officers … displayed aggressive behaviour towards Unficyp personnel in their pushback actions,” he said, adding that the UNHCR were informed by the Republic’s authorities that investigations would be conducted into the matter.
In his observations, he wrote that he “welcomes the fact that all individuals stranded in the buffer zone have finally been accepted into the asylum procedures of the Republic of Cyprus”.
“However, I regret the continued forcible pushbacks of asylum seekers into the buffer zone … Acts of ill-discipline towards Unficyp peacekeepers by the Greek Cypriot immigration unit are of concern … I reiterate that the safety and security of peacekeepers remains an utmost priority for the UN and cannot be compromised,” he said.
He also made reference to the barbed wire placed in the buffer zone by the Republic’s authorities, noting that it is “unauthorised” and “has not been removed, despite the fact that cabinet had approved its removal during the reporting period following an acknowledgement that the fence had no impact on migrant flows”.
On the matter of Varosha, he wrote that “no steps were taken to address the call made by the UN Security Council … for the immediate reversal of the actions taken since October 2020” by the north to open the area up for tourism.
He added that Unficyp “did not observe any significant change” in the area which is currently open to visitors, but that “the mission has limited access to that area”.
“The previously reported vegetation clearing, electrical work, road paving and fence building continued. Unficyp also again observed the repeated use of commercial drone overflights. Access to the entire area of Varosha by Unficyp patrols has remained significantly constrained since 1974,” he said.
He also said Unficyp has “repeatedly expressed concern over any developments in the fenced-off part of the town” and that the UN “continues to hold the government of Turkey responsible for the situation in Varosha”.
He expressed criticism over the Turkish Cypriot side’s “overstaffing” of a post in the Famagusta district village of Strovilia, before noting that of the 227 military violations committed in the six-month period, 118 were made by Turkish Cypriots and 109 by Greek Cypriots.
To this end, he pointed out the installation of “military-grade surveillance systems along the buffer zone, that have the potential to be used in military operations”, describing it as a “significant concern for Unficyp”.
He added that the Republic has installed a total of 31 surveillance towers since 2023, while it has installed standalone cameras at 21 sites, two of which are inside the buffer zone.
Turkish Cypriot forces, he said, installed four additional camera sites in the six-month period, bringing the total to 114. Meanwhile, a total of 49 new surveillance towers were installed, bringing the total number installed to 55 since 2023.
Of incidents of military personnel advancing into the buffer zone, he said this happened on 10 occasions in the six-month reporting period – four times committed by the Greek Cypriot side and six by the Turkish Cypriot side.
These actions, he said, “indicate an erosion of respect for the mission’s mandated authority in the buffer zone”.
He added that during the reporting period, “neither side took any significant action to reverse the course of previous serious violations in and around the buffer zone”, highlighting the placement of a camera and satellite dish atop a house in the buffer zone in Nicosia known as “Maria’s house” or “Neriman’s house”.
He also offered criticism for “Greek Cypriot farmers defying Unficyp warnings and farming lands too close to the northern ceasefire line”, saying this “created tensions”.
In response, he said, Turkish forces had “on three occasions violated the buffer zone by moving forward to challenge the farmers”.
He also made reference to the issue of Maronite and Greek Cypriot schools in the north, writing that Unficyp “liaised with both sides to provide logistical support for the Greek Cypriot schools in Rizokarpaso”, and that a transfer of textbooks “is still pending”.
“While all the teachers initially proposed by the Greek Cypriots were accepted by the Turkish Cypriots, the replacement of two teachers remained pending. A teaching position at the Maronite school in Kormakitis has yet to be filled due to demands by the Maronite community for a Maronite teacher,” he added.
On the matter of textbooks, he said, “Turkish Cypriot authorities rejected 42 out of 118 textbooks for the primary schools in Rizokarpaso and Kormakitis, as well as 51 out of 197 textbooks for the secondary school at Rizokarpaso, and alleged that these books have the potential to have ‘negative effects on the future relationship between young generations’”.
As was expected, he also recommended that Unficyp’s mandate be renewed for another year, with that mandate set to expire on January 31.
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