UN official due in Cyprus next week (Updated)

Issues related to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp) will be at the centre of the visit next week by UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who will also visit the mixed village of Pyla.

Unficyp spokesperson Aleem Siddique on Friday told the Cyprus News Agency that Lacroix, who has been to Cyprus multiple times in the past related to peacekeeping operations, would visit between November 1 and 3 and would also meet the leaders of the two sides.

He said the primary purpose of the visit was to review Unficyp. “At the centre of the visit will be the issue of the UN peacekeeping force,” Siddique said.

Siddique said as part of his visit, Lacroix would be visiting the buffer zone area at Pyla and will meet UN peacekeepers.

Indeed, issues related to Unficyp have hit the headlines in the past few months. The situation in Pyla, in particular, was brought to the fore in August when the Turkish Cypriot authorities unilaterally announced their intention to build a road through the buffer zone between Pyla and Arsos.

After a physical confrontation between the Turkish Cypriot side and UN personnel, a mutual understanding was reached earlier this month that would allow construction of the road after the matter reached the UN Security Council. Work on the road began on Monday.

Lacroix will also meet President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and will have contacts with representatives of civil society such as women’s and youth organisations, according to the Unficyp spokesperson.

On Thursday it was reported on the Greek Cypriot side that the United Nations Secretary-General had picked the person who would act as an envoy, and that the name has been passed on to both sides.

Christodoulides, speaking to the media in Brussels where he was attending a European Council summit, said the Greek Cypriot side had been informed by the UN about the Secretary-General’s decision to proceed with “the appointment of a specific personality, who will undertake to look into the prospects for the resumption of the talks from where they were suspended,” he said.

He added that the UN has sought and received the consent of Nicosia regarding the choice of individual.

For his part and having earlier stated he would “never” accept such an envoy, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar subsequently softened his stance.

In late September Tatar told a Turkish Cypriot newspaper: “There could, under certain conditions, be a personal envoy who would work directly with the UN secretary-general.”

But he qualified: “I told [UN Secretary-General Antonio] Guterres that we are very opposed to the appointment of the special representative to implement Security Council decisions, to make reports, and to impose a federal solution onto us.”

On Friday, CNA, citing sources said the process to explore the prospects of resuming Cyprus talks by the envoy to be appointed would not be open-ended.

It said that for Nicosia, the important thing is to make the appointment and move the process forward. The person UNSG Antonio Guterres has chosen had in the past some contacts with the Cyprus government, due to a previous role he held.

Now that the Cyprus government has given its consent, it is up to Guterres to make the announcement once the Turkish side agrees.