The United Nations security council has been briefed on the latest developments in the buffer zone village of Pyla, according to reports on Thursday.

The Cyprus News Agency reported that the UN’s peace operations department briefed the security council on the issue, with “tensions” in the area having been reported on Wednesday.

Fears of heightened tensions had arisen on Wednesday morning after a line of Turkish tanks was spotted in the area, though UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) spokesman Aleem Siddique confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the tanks were at all times located “north of the northern ceasefire line”, and as such not in the buffer zone.

Given Pyla and nearby Pergamos’ proximity to the United Kingdom’s Dhekelia base also saw British vehicles deploy to the area, though British bases spokeswoman Korina Orphanides told the Cyprus Mail that vehicles had been deployed only as a precaution and “took no action”, thus indicating that the tanks were also located outside the base.

Earlier, Siddique had confirmed that there are “no military assets inside the buffer zone”, and that reports that a Turkish flag had been planted in the buffer zone also did not correspond to reality. The flag, he said, is located in the north.

Meanwhile, news website Kibris Postasi quoted military sources as having said that the tanks had been deployed because “the Greek Cypriot authorities attempted to facilitate illegal crossings”, possibly of veterinarians, into the buffer zone near Pyla, “citing an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the Greek Cypriot side”.

As such, the sources said, measures were taken to bolster the Turkish Cypriot security presence in the area.

Later on Wednesday, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that the incident had amounted to the buffer zone being “violated by occupying forces, in violation of the current regime and international law”.

“This is an action aimed at challenging the status of the buffer zone and the role and terms of mandate of Unficyp, as well as at creating new faits accomplis for the occupation,” he said.

He added that the government has been “in constant communication with Unficyp from the very beginning, supporting efforts for de-escalation”.

Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, meanwhile, said on Wednesday afternoon that “calm” was prevailing in the area, and that his office was “in full coordination with all the authorities responsible in the field of security”.

He then referred to erroneous reports published earlier in the day stating that Turkish tanks had entered the buffer zone.

“Despite the efforts observed in statements from the south and from the media, including news and commentary which does not reflect the truth, to escalate tensions, it should be known that we will not be a party to such an effort. Problems will be resolved calmly, resolutely, and through dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.