The President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, sent a letter to her counterparts of permanent and non-permanent member-states of the UN Security Council, to communicate the recent provocative actions of the Turkish Cypriot side in the buffer zone near Pyla village and the attack against members of the UN peacekeeping forces personnel last Friday.

According to a House announcement, the President also conveyed the letter to Presidents of international and regional parliamentary institutions, Presidents of parliaments of EU member-states, of the Council of Europe, of Middle Eastern countries, countries of the Gulf and other countries.

The House President condemns Turkey and the illegal regime in Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus for pursuing to create faits accompli in occupied areas, as well as for trying to expand the occupied area by invading the buffer zone near Pyla. Demetriou also condemned the attacks against members of the peacekeeping forces, who tried to prevent non-authorized construction works in the buffer zone. These actions aim to produce a military advantage for the illegal regime on the ceasefire line, House President notes.

She also points out that the UNSC and the UN General Secretary, as well as the EU institutions and other countries, have also condemned the latest provocative actions in the buffer zone.

She concludes that these actions “severely undermine the continuous efforts to resume negotiations to achieve a just and viable settlement for the Cyprus question, on the basis of bizonal bicommunal federation, in line with the international law and the UN resolutions and EU principles and values” and makes an urgent appeal to her counterparts to use their influence to stop Turkey’s pursues within the buffer zone.

Members of the Security Council condemned on Monday, August 22, 2023, the incidents in the buffer zone, in the village of Pyla, in Larnaca district, with assaults against UN peacekeepers, reiterating their full support for UNFICYP. On Friday August 19, 2023 Turkish Cypriots punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews illegally working on a road that would encroach on a U.N. controlled buffer zone.