Discussions ongoing over Pyla road says President

President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday there are “ongoing processes concerning Pyla”, referring to the controversial push for a Pyla-Arsos road by the north.

The issue has gained renewed traction this week as Turkish Cypriot media reported that construction of the road began, but this was swiftly denied by both the UN and the government spokesperson on Monday, and the latest reports in the north said it would begin on Monday.

“There is nothing to announce at the moment – there are ongoing processes,” Christodoulides said when asked if an agreement has been reached. “As I have said many times, what concerns us is to ensure the status of the buffer zone, to prevent any comparative advantage for the Turkish occupation forces.

“Discussions are ongoing, and there is no result yet,” the president said.

Christodoulides was pressed as to whether the UN has reached an agreement, to which he reiterated that discussions are still underway and no decision has been made – “there are still ongoing processes”.

He did not give a clear answer as to whether proposals were rejected either by the Republic or by the north.

In mid-August, men in the north punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews working on a road that would encroach on the UN controlled buffer zone.

The attack happened as peacekeepers stood in the way of work crews building a road to connect the village Arsos with the village of Pyla, inside the buffer zone.