The UN says that there has been an increase in violations along the buffer zone by both sides, Colin Stewart, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus said Wednesday.
The peacekeeping mission, he pointed out, looks at every case on its own merits adding that one of the mistakes that is made is to equate different things in different parts of the buffer zone.
Responding to a question directed to him by the reporter from the Anadolu News Agency in a press conference after informing the UN Secretary-General, as to whether the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is considering physical intervention for the “violations carried out by the Greek Cypriot side” like the UN did in Pile last summer, the UN Special Representative Colin Stewart said that “our role is to try to maintain the integrity of the buffer zone. And especially maintain the military status quo as all part of an effort to make sure that tensions do not rise and create problems”.
He said they discussed the situation in the buffer zone adding that “as you know from the report of the UN Secretary General there are a number of issues in the buffer zone that challenge us and this was something that we, the Secretary-General emphasized in his report and that was the basis of the discussion with the council”.
At the moment, he added, “we are facing increased tensions. And what that means is that we have had violations to the buffer zone on both sides and in fact there has been an escalation in recent months which is well described in the UN Secretary General’s report that this is a no win situation but it just escalates tension and creates problems for everybody”.
The peacekeeping mission, he pointed out, looks at every case on its own merits adding that one of the mistakes that is made is to equate different things in different parts of the buffer zone.
“There are different issues, there are different historical facts there are different sensitivities and the reason that we intervened in August in Pile had to do with the specific sensitivities of that particular area, every other incident is weighted on its own merits and we protest in different ways according to the situation. But absolutely our purpose is to convince both sides that it is not in their interest to undermine the UN’s authority in the buffer zone or to degrade the integrity of the buffer zone itself” he stressed.
Asked if it is safe to assume that the “violations” of the Greek side are all without any sensitive issues, he replied “it is never safe to assume”.
He also said that there were also a lot of statements welcoming the appointment of the personal envoy of the UNSG for Cyprus and very good support and interventions from all the members of the Council.
Steward added that he believed that it was possible to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem and we have not given up after 60 years.