In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Turkish Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler expressed his full support to the TRNC regarding the expansion and repair work to be carried out on the Pile-Yiğitler road.

Güler said that the UN’s move on the issue was unacceptable.

“We always state that Cyprus is our national cause. Therefore we fully support the rightful reaction of TRNC authorities regarding the Pile-Yiğitler issue,” Güler said, adding that the UN Peace keeping Force (UNFICYP)’s mandate on the island was to maintain peace and to contribute to finding solutions to the disputes between the two sides.

He however pointed out that UNFICYP was neither neutral in its stance nor was it keeping in line with its mandate.

Reminding that the UN had kept silent in allowing Greek Cypriot’s to build a university campus in the buffer zone in 2012; then again in 2020 when building an open air cinema in another area in the buffer zone, Güler said that the same UN was now preventing a humanitarian road project.

“This biased attitude of the UN cannot be accepted. Our hope is for the UNFICYP to act in accordance with its mission and to respect the sovereignty rights of the TRNC. As the Republic of Türkiye we will continue to support the legitimate rights of our brothers and sisters,” Güler said.