Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Tuesday called for construction on the planned road which would link the buffer zone village of Pyla with Arsos in the north to restart.

Speaking during a village to the nearby village of Pergamos, he said that when the road’s construction is completed, “the daily lives of our citizens living in Pyla will become easier, and the Pergamos crossing point will also be relieved”.

He added that following the reaching of a mutual understanding and the beginning of construction in 2023, “the United Nations blocked the process by setting conditions”.

On this matter, he said such conditions were not applied to the Greek Cypriot side when building roads to and from Pyla.

“The Greek Cypriot side has built roads from Pyla to Larnaca through the buffer zone, universities and public buildings have been built in the buffer zone. While the UN turns a blind eye to these developments, I have difficulty understanding why the completion of this road is being made difficult,” he said.

He added that the road is a “humanitarian issue to facilitate transportation and relieve traffic congestion in Pergamos”.

He then moved on to the matter of potential new crossing points between Cyprus’ two sides in light of his meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday, and said eight million crossings are made per year and that 65 per cent of crossings made with vehicles are made through the Ayios Dhometios crossing point in Nicosia.

“With the opening of crossing points in Mia Milia and Louroujina, Ayios Dhometios will be relieved, and there will be mobility in those regions … As envisaged by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, this will be an initiative aimed at developing commercial and social relations between the two sides,” he said.

He added that the Greek Cypriot side has “made demands regarding transit corridors which will provide a passage from the Greek Cypriot side to the Greek Cypriot side in Kokkina and Athienou.

It is not possible for us to accept these proposals aimed at gaining a tactical and strategic advantage. I expect the Greek Cypriot leader to abandon these empty dreams, ignore the idea of gaining territory, and approach positively the opening of the crossing points at Mia Milia and Louroujina.”

Turning back to the matter of Pyla, he said the road could be opened “in a very short period of time”.

“I will bring this issue onto the agenda at the next meeting and demand that the UN fulfil its responsibility. We will bring up the fact that the UN, which does not object to the construction of roads between Pyla and Larnaca and remains a spectator to the construction of buildings in the buffer zone, prevents us from travelling from Arsos to Pyla on our own land,” he said.

Pyla had been mentioned by Christodoulides after Monday’s meeting, with Christodoulides hoping that the originally foreseen conditions of 2023’s mutual understanding will be adhered to.

The mutual understanding foresaw that the road would be built with a Turkish Cypriot checkpoint stationed north of the buffer zone and another checkpoint located within the buffer zone.

In addition, 400 plots of land north of Pyla were set to be turned into residential properties, while a large solar farm was set to be built in a vacant area northwest of the village.

However, just weeks later, the UN requested that works be put on hold after reports surfaced in the Turkish Cypriot media that Greek Cypriot construction workers had “encroached on TRNC territory”, while Turkish Cypriot Pergamos mayor Bulent Bebek said soldiers and police had been mobilised in the area to prevent anyone from entering.

A total of 14 months have passed since the works were put on hold, with no works in the area having since resumed.