The foreign ministry on Wednesday said it “shares the concern” expressed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over advances made by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot personnel into the buffer zone near the village of Pyla, near Larnaca.

“Violations committed by the occupying army continue to be recorded in and around the buffer zone, in particular in the areas of Pyla, Varosha, and Strovilia,” it said.

“We unequivocally condemn the illegal actions of the occupying army, including the harassment of Cypriot citizens and the restrictions it is attempting to impose on the peacekeeping force and its ability to carry out its mandate.”

However, it did on this front offer criticism for Guterres’ report, accusing him of a “longstanding tendency to maintain equal distances” between the two sides in his recounting of incidents.

This, it said, “does not allow for the portrayal of a comprehensive and accurate picture of the realities on the ground”, because “they arise from Turkish occupation and the methodology followed by the occupation forces, undermining the effort to create a climate of trust”.

On the matter of efforts to bring about a resumption of negotiations in earnest on the Cyprus problem, it said that it “welcomes” Guterres’ efforts and shares the view that “confidence-building measures are not a valid substitute for a negotiation process”.

“We look forward to the immediate resumption of talks with the aim of finding a sustainable, comprehensive, and just solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality,” it said.

Guterres had in his report on the status of the UN’s peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) expressed “deep concern” over Turkish and Turkish Cypriot advances into the buffer zone.

“The authorities in the north have claimed that a part of the plateau falls under their authority. Since early February, Turkish Cypriot police have imposed access restrictions on civilians, and on one occasion detained a Greek Cypriot individual, who was released shortly thereafter,” he said.

As such, he said that the situation in the buffer zone is “fragile”, particularly in the Pyla area, while also pointing out that in April, the Turkish Cypriot presence in the area near the village was “further reinforced through the gradual deployment of static vehicles’ present at key locations in the buffer zone”.

He went on to say that “these developments occurred against a backdrop of continued hardening of the Turkish Cypriot position with respect to the United Nations’ mandated authority, particularly concerning the delineation of this section of the buffer zone”.

In his other report, written into the status of the UN’s good offices in Cyprus, he said that both President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman have demonstrated their “commitment to building a relationship based on trust” in recent months.

“The intensification of dialogue between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders over the reporting period remains positive. It demonstrates their commitment to building a relationship based on trust and to finding a path forward on the Cyprus issue,” he said.