Very concerned about increased militarisation of buffer zone – Unficyp chief

Unficyp chief The UN Special Representative for Cyprus and head of Unficyp Colin Stewart said on Monday that he is concerned over increased militarisation of the buffer zone, seemingly caused by the stalled political process towards Cyprus talks.

Speaking to the press after his meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides he said that he is getting ready to go to New York next week to brief the Security Council.

Stewart said that they discussed the issues that are before the security council, and he expressed his concern about the continuing militarisation of the buffer zone.

He spoke of continuing tensions and expressed the hope for some progress in the political process.

“We see a direct relationship between having some form of movement in the political process and to keeping the peace on the ground and if the political process were to come to some end, then I fear that there would be consequences in the buffer zone as well,” he said.

Stewart is set to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Tuesday.

Stewart mentioned to Christodoulides that there have been some positive developments.

“They are good, they build confidence, they build hope for a peaceful future,” Stewart said, adding that the president shared with him his views.

He cited as examples of militarisation of the buffer zone the construction of significant defensive positions, an increase in the use of military technology, sensors, cameras along the buffer zone, and a record increase in the number of incursions into the buffer zone.

“All of this undermines the United Nation’s mandate in Cyprus and our ability to maintain integrity of the buffer zone which is the foundation for the work we our doing here.”

Meanwhile, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the government has called on Turkish Cypriot leader once again to restart Cyprus talks from where they left off after the failure to achieve a solution back at Crans-Montana in 2017.

“What we will repeat once again in the most emphatic way is that we must all demonstrate the same sincere will to resume negotiations. We invite once again Turkey, Mr Tatar, to the negotiating table, from the point where they have been interrupted, so that a final solution to the Cyprus problem can be found within the agreed framework,” he said.

“There is no possibility of changing the agreed basis of the Cyprus problem solution.”

He added that they will await Stewart’s report to the Security Council and make a public statement following its publication.

Asked about UN secretary-general personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s report being presented to the Security Council, he said that the matter is up to the UNSG to present it or not.

In response to a reporter’s remark that Stewart spoke about the need to demilitarise the buffer zone and asked if he expected his report to document Turkish violations in Pyla, Deneia, Strovilia and Agios Dhometios, the spokesman said that “what we expect is that the report objectively reflects the facts”.

“We, it is known, fully respect the terms of reference of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus and we believe that everyone should respect those terms of reference. And we have demonstrated this through our actions, not just this time, but over time,” he said.

Asked to comment on reports that Holguin is preparing a proposal that “touches” the basis of a solution, and that this is why the president called a meeting of the National Council, the spokesman said that “there was criticism when the president did not immediately call a meeting of the National Council”.

He added that the National Council has been convened precisely to provide the political leadership with the necessary briefing and exchange of views on the last meeting between Christodoulides and Holguin.

He added: “There is no provision, no possibility of changing the agreed framework. It is to this agreed framework that our side remains committed over time and this is something that we should note, and it is in this agreed framework that we believe that any concerns that our Turkish Cypriot compatriots and our Greek Cypriot compatriots have can be addressed, namely, a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality.”

Meanwhile, Tatar met Holguin in London in the evening. Holguin declined to make comments afterwards.

Earlier, Tatar said as long as the Turkish Cypriots are not considered equal and a solution based on equality is not accepted, there will be no common ground for negotiations in Cyprus.

“The common ground required for a new and formal process can only be found by affirming our sovereign equality and our equal international status,” Tatar said.

The Turkish Cypriot leader said he was meeting “privately” with Holguin as she had also met with Christodoulides last week in Brussels.

He recalled that the UNSG envoy’s mission had a six-month limit and Holguin was tasked with exploring whether sufficient common ground exists to start formal negotiations.

During that time, he had relayed “the realities” [of the situation] to Holguin and she had seen that “there is no common ground”, he said.

According to Tatar, the first steps needed to confirm sovereign equality and an equal international status for Turkish Cypriots are the “3Ds”, that is, “direct flights, direct trade and direct contacts”.

The Greek Cypriot population should treat the Turkish Cypriot population as equals, he added. Greek Cypriots “want to impose a solution, not on the basis of equality, but for the benefit of their own state,” he claimed.