The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) Ambassador to Ankara İsmet Korukoğlu said on Sunday that the UN has always remained silent concerning the numerous violations of the Greek Cypriot administration in the buffer zone, and that the aim of the Greek side was to make the village of Pile a part of its own territory.

The attempt by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force soldiers to obstruct the road project aimed at providing easy access to the village of Pile in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the current situation was evaluated by the TRNC’s Ambassador to Ankara, İsmet Korukoğlu, in an interview with the İHA news agency.

Korukoğlu pointed out that United Nations soldiers attempted to obstruct personnel from working within TRNC territory as well as members of the Turkish Cypriot Police Force present there to ensure security.

He said that the ongoing work involves expanding and improving the existing Pile-Yiğitler road to facilitate easier access for over 500 TRNC citizens residing in the village of Pile to the TRNC territory.

“The issue is simple. This is purely a humanitarian matter. The Greek Cypriots living in Pile have the opportunity to come and go to the Greek Cypriot administration without going through any controls. I would like to emphasize this. Our citizens living in Pile on the other hand, have no choice but to pass through the British Sovereign Base Area to access the TRNC. I remember very well that the authorities of the British Sovereign Base Area had put very serious restrictive obstacles to the passage and return of our citizens living in Pile from the TRNC, especially during the coronavirus period,” Ambassador Korukoğlu said.

Reminding that they had been waiting for the construction of this road for 25 years, he said “our just demands on this issue have always been ignored until now. The improvement of this road is a purely humanitarian issue. It is definitely wrong, and it should not be understood as anything different. The Greek Cypriot Administration built the Larnaka-Dikelya-Agia Napa road in 1996. It systematically expropriated Turkish Cypriot land. Part of this road passes through the buffer zone. The Greek Cypriot side’s activities in the buffer zone are not limited to this. The 2004 Pile-Voroklini road and 2012 Pile universities, which are expanding every year, and the open-air cinema are examples of this. Unfortunately, the UN has always remained silent to these violations of the Greek Cypriot Administration. The aim of the Greek Cypriot side is to incorporate Pile into its own territory,” he added.