On Thursday, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) slammed the U.N. peacekeeping force for obstructing entry to Taksim Field, a buffer zone located on the border with the Greek side in the south.
“We do not accept the U.N. peacekeeping force’s attitude in preventing physical access to the area in question,” the Presidency of the TRNC said in a statement.
Taksim Field, which has “great importance in the just struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people” in its history and past, both in terms of sports and culture, has been in use by the Çetinkaya Sports Club since 1930, according to the statement. “Installing barbed wire at the gates, damaging the historical Lefkoşa (Nicosia) walls and placing block barriers violates not only the status quo but also causes deprivation of rights,” it said.
“The U.N. should immediately reverse this mistake, understood to have been made by Greek Cypriot pressure, before the crisis escalates,” it added.
Underlining that the U.N. peacekeeping force has ignored Greek violations in the buffer zone for decades, the Turkish Cypriot Presidency called on the force to comply with the U.N.’s principles and rules, including impartiality.
It said that necessary actions would be taken to protect the Turkish Cypriot nation’s rights and ensure that young people do not stay away from the field.
TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu told a state T.V. channel that the U.N. is trying to create a crisis. “That site should be restored to how it was before it was demolished in 2014,” he said.
An official opening ceremony was planned for this week for the site, which was rebuilt with the financial and project support of Türkiye.
The U.N. Peacekeeping Force placed barriers between the site and the walls to prevent access to Taksim Field from TRNC territory.
The conflict between the islands’ two peoples has been ongoing for many years. It erupted first in the late 1950s when Greek Cypriots launched a campaign of oppression and fear against Turkish Cypriots, forcing the latter to withdraw into enclaves for safety and a 1974 coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention, dubbed Cyprus Peace Operation, that eventually led to the foundation of the TRNC in 1983.
Multiple international efforts were made for a remedy, with the U.N. working for years to achieve a comprehensive solution, proposing a reunification plan for a federation, and sponsoring peace talks that eventually broke down, including the failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support the U.N.’s suggestion of a federal Greek Cypriot administration, the TRNC and Türkiye have been resolutely calling for a two-state solution, stressing that “the sovereign equality and the equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots are non-negotiable.”
Earlier in January, the U.N. urged guarantor powers Türkiye and Greece, who are at loggerheads over Cyprus as well as several other standing issues, to support constructive dialogue efforts amid uncertainty on prospects of reaching common ground “any time soon.”
According to U.N. Secretary-General Anthony Guterres, the sides are yet to reach an agreement regarding modalities for the appointment of a U.N. envoy, who could explore ways to resume negotiations for a lasting settlement in Cyprus.
The political landscape has been further complicated by disputes and statements regarding areas adjacent to the buffer zone and in the fenced-off coastal area of Maraş, or Varosha in Greek, which had virtually turned into a ghost town, as it has remained cut off from the world for 47 years.
A portion of the ghost town, about 3.5% of its total area, was reopened in October 2020. Maraş was abandoned after a 1984 U.N. Security Council resolution that stated only original inhabitants could resettle in the town.
Türkiye assures it will continue seeking a fair solution to the Cyprus issue, stressing that such a thing is only possible with “the registration of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots,” who have “clearly demonstrated what they want.”
