Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Cyprus for blocking the construction of a road on that ethnically divided island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, calling the action "unacceptable" and the behavior of the peacekeepers towards the Turkish Cypriots as biased.
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided into the southern, Greek part, which is a member of the European Union, and the northern, Turkish part, which is not recognized by any country in the world except Turkey, and which keeps 35.000 of its soldiers there. United Nations peacekeeping forces are located in the buffer zone between the northern and southern parts of the island.
Speaking after a meeting of his cabinet, Erdogan said Turkey would not allow any "illegal" behavior towards Turkish Cypriots.
Three days ago, angry Turkish Cypriots fought fists and kicked with a group of international peacekeepers because they stopped the road builders through the UN-controlled buffer zone.
The attack occurred when peacekeepers stood in the way of road workers building a road between the village of Arsos, in the island's breakaway north, and the ethnically mixed village of Pila in the buffer zone between the occupied northern third of the island and the southern, internationally recognized part of Cyprus.
"Preventing Turkish Cypriots living in Pila from reaching their country is neither legal nor humane," Erdogan said. "The peacekeeping forces cast a shadow over their impartiality and with their physical intervention against the villagers and the unfortunate statements they made after the intervention damaged their reputation on this island".
One clip shows dozens of Turkish Cypriots approaching a much smaller group of Slovak and British UN soldiers. Some of the peacekeepers who tried to prevent the construction of the road were punched in the face during their efforts to create a living wall, holding on to each other. The UN announced that three soldiers were slightly injured and that they received medical assistance.
This kind of escalation of tensions has not been seen in years on the island.
The disputed road would allow the Turkish Cypriots direct access to the village of Pila, while bypassing the checkpoint on the northern edge of the British military base.
The base is one of two that Great Britain has kept on the island since Cyprus gained independence from its colonial rule in 1960.
Greek Cypriots see the construction of the road as a move that has a military purpose in a sensitive spot along the buffer zone that stretches 180 kilometers along the dividing line with the internationally unrecognized state of Turkish Cypriots.
"Threats to the security of members of the United Nations peacekeeping forces and causing damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime under international law that will be prosecuted according to the law," the UNFICIP peacekeeping force said in a statement.
UNFICIP spokesman Alim Sidiku told The Associated Press that the UN will not back down from "blocking or thwarting the construction of the road through non-violent means." According to him, the construction of the road would violate the peacekeeping force's mandate to maintain the status quo within the buffer zone.
After the incident, Turkish Cypriot authorities blamed UN peacekeepers for the fighting, calling their actions "unacceptable" and UNFICIP's statement "baseless accusations". They accused UNFICIP of being "biased" and said international forces should "immediately end" the interference. construction of the road as a "humanitarian" project.
Erdogan said: "What is expected of the United Nations peacekeeping force is to live up to its name and to contribute to finding a solution for the humanitarian needs of all parties on the island. We will not agree to fait accompli and illegality on the island."
EU Council President Charles Michel and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell condemned the attacks and called for calm.
The British and French embassies and the United Nations Mission issued a joint statement expressing "serious concern" about the road construction, demanding it stop immediately and condemning the attacks as "completely unacceptable".
UN peacekeepers have been in Cyprus since 1963 to separate the Greeks and Turks, who are constantly in deadly conflict, with the "Green Line" from one end of the island to the other. The mission's mandate to maintain the status quo of the buffer zone was reinforced in 1974, when Turkey carried out a military invasion and occupation of the northern part of the island after a coup attempt in Nicosia by supporters of unification with Greece.
The breakaway northern part of the island, occupied by Turkey, is recognized only by Turkey as an independent state - the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".
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