A simple project to expand a village road draws attention to the volatile and divided island of Cyprus. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) announced on Thursday that the road between Pile (Pyla) and Yiğitler (Arsos) villages in the Green Line, a U.N.-controlled buffer zone between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts of the island, would be expanded. The Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry said that the project had "purely humanitarian reasons" for easy access to Pile from the Turkish Cypriot side.

Nevertheless, the United Nations was quick to denounce the project. The U.N. mission on the island said Thursday it will block construction of the road that would encroach on a U.N.-controlled buffer zone and likely raise tensions on the Mediterranean island nation. The world body plans to "block or frustrate construction of the road by non-violent means," said Aleem Siddique, spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP. He claimed that the road would "violate the forces’ mandate" of maintaining the status quo inside the buffer zone.

But despite this, the Greek Cypriot side has already engaged in numerous and systematic construction projects in the buffer zone that changes the status quo, which the U.N. has remained silent on.

Work already began on the road to connect Yiğitler in the Turkish Cypriot north with the mixed Greek and Turkish Cypriot village of Pile, just south of the buffer zone and inside the Greek Cypriot south. The road would give Turkish Cypriots direct access to Pile by bypassing a checkpoint on the fringes of a British military base, one of two bases that the United Kingdom retained after the island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960. The Greek Cypriots perceive the road construction as a move with a military purpose at a sensitive spot along the buffer zone spanning 180 kilometers (120 miles).

Maintaining the status quo of the buffer zone is enshrined in the U.N. mission's mandate since 1974 when Türkiye launched a military operation to protect the Turkish Cypriot population against attacks by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece. The Greek Cypriot administration supported the U.N. decision to block the construction and its spokesperson, Constantinos Letymbiotis, said in a statement that they would work with U.N. peacekeepers to thwart the road construction.

The TRNC Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the project was a move for the economic development of a regional community, without depending on a checkpoint.

"Despite the constructive attitude of the Turkish Cypriot side regarding the Pile-Yiğitler road project, which has a history exceeding 25 years, and all the calls made to this effect, there have been no steps taken to facilitate the daily lives of our citizens living in Pile, and our goodwill has not been reciprocated. Therefore, the Turkish Cypriot side, which is an equal co-owner of the Island, has decided to start the necessary works for the completion of the Pile-Yiğitler Road," the ministry said in its statement.

The ministry noted that the Greek Cypriot side, despite their objections, already "monopolized" a part of the road and had it pass through the land belonging to Turkish Cypriots and expropriated those lands "in a systematic manner." It also pointed out that a road between Pile and Oroklini, a Greek Cypriot village, already passed through the buffer zone, in a veiled response to the U.N.’s objections in the name of maintaining the status quo.

"The fact that the university constructed in Pile in 2012 is expanded every year, as well as the continuing operation of the open-air cinema built to the south of the Derinya crossing point in 2020, are blatant proof that the violations of the Greek Cypriot side in the buffer zone are not limited solely to road works," the ministry said. It also stated that they repeatedly conveyed their concerns about Pile to UNFICYP in the past but it remained silent "in the face of the various violations committed by the Greek Cypriot side in the buffer zone, including the construction of roads."

"We expect UNFICYP, which maintains its presence and activities on the island due to the goodwill of the Turkish Cypriot side, to adopt a constructive and cooperative attitude in this regard," it said. "We believe that the implementation of this humanitarian project will contribute to the beginning of a new phase in Cyprus, which respects the inherent rights of both sides and is open to cooperation on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status," it concluded.

Pile has a special status and is governed by two village mukhtars, one Turkish Cypriot, and one Greek Cypriot, and its security is provided by the U.N. Both TRNC and Greek Cypriot laws apply in the village.

The project also came up during a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Thursday. The call took place at Colonna's request, according to a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Fidan informed Colonna about the project in response to her question.

On Friday, Turkish Cypriot officials were in Pile, accompanied by bulldozers and other equipment to start work on the road, just as U.N. peacekeepers installed concrete blocks in the area to stop them. They also placed vehicles on the Turkish Cypriot side to block access. Turkish Cypriot security forces used bulldozers to remove the parked vehicles.

In a statement on the issue, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said on Friday there was "no turning back" from the road project. He said the project was "humanitarian" and aimed to facilitate the lives of Turkish Cypriots "left at the mercy of Greek Cypriots and British bases there." He affirmed that they had no intention to "steal land" from any part of Cyprus but they faced "a conspiracy."

"The United Nations should not attempt to stop us, we will do it. This is the final decision. We are determined," he said in a written statement. Ertuğruloğlu said the U.N. peacekeeping force was "unfriendly" toward Turkish Cypriots but they would not "fall for their plot."

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. for a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries: Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom. The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who visited the TRNC last month to mark the 49th anniversary of the Turkish military operation known as the Cyprus Peace Operation, said at the time the TRNC would remain a fortress for Türkiye and Turkic states in the Eastern Mediterranean.

He affirmed that "no matter the circumstances, we will not back down from our efforts to confirm the equal sovereignty and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots."