Defence minister thanks Austria for contribution to Unficyp

Three fallen Austrian peacekeepers who died in 1974 were honoured by Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides and his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner, on a visit to Cyprus, on Tuesday.

A ceremony took place in Koshi, the site of the attack which is now an abandoned village between Nicosia and Larnaca that was once primarily inhabited by Turkish Cypriots.

Petrides paid his respects to the fallen and thanked Austria for its contribution to the Unficyp peacekeeping force.

“We are here to honour the three fallen Austrian soldiers, Johann Izay, Paul Decombre and August Isak, as well as all of the other Austrian peacekeepers who have tragically lost their lives in service of Unficyp in the name of peace,” Petrides said.

Tanner recalled the events of August 14, 1974, as she detailed that four Austrian peacekeepers attempted to prevent an attack on the village and separate the National Guard and the Turkish Cypriots but that the peacekeepers were forced to withdraw and remain nearby to observe the situation, as was their mandate.

“Hours later, an attack by the National Guard on the village of Koshi was followed up with an operation by a Turkish fighter jet which dropped bombs on the vehicle used by the UN peacekeepers,” Tanner said.

Three of the four Austrian peacekeepers died in the attack, she added.

The UN Security Council in late January renewed the mandate for Unficyp until July 31, 2022 but expressed regret over the lack of progress in restarting formal negotiations, saying the status quo is unsustainable.

It urged the two sides to renew their efforts.

“Noting with regret the lack of progress made towards restarting formal negotiations at this time and stressing that the status quo is unsustainable, that the situation on the ground is not static, and that the lack of an agreement furthers political tensions and deepens the estrangement of both communities, risking irreversible changes on the ground, and reducing the prospects of a settlement,” the resolution said.