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The Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, one of UN’s longest-running peacekeeping missions, drawing different reactions as usually from both sides on the divided island.
All fifteen members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of Resolution 2646 on Thursday, extending UNFICYP's mandate on Cyprus for another six months until 31 January 2023.
The foreign ministry in the Republic of Cyprus said the Greek Cypriot side was satisfied with the adoption of the resolution, with a statement saying the final text included “positive references” that reiterated the Council’s stance on the issue of Varosha.
The situation in Varosha, Maras in Turkish, a once-vibrant resort town that was abandoned by Greek Cypriot inhabitants in August 1974 -a month after Turkish troops landed on the island in response to a Greek inspired coup- has been undergoing changes after Turkish and local authorities in the north launched a partial opening of an area and invited Greek Cypriots back under Turkish Cypriot administration.
Based on the text, the UNSC called for the “immediate reversal of this course of action” and emphasized that “any unilateral actions that could raise tensions on the island and undermine the prospects for a peaceful settlement” should be avoided.
The Greek Cypriot side was satisfied with the resolution, with a government statement saying the final text included 'positive references' that reiterated the Council’s stance on Varosha
But Ankara, which slammed the resolution as “disconnected from the reality, unfair and unjust again,” said the UNSC approach served “the continuation of the status quo, rather than the settlement.”
“References to Maraş in the resolution are also disconnected from the facts. Türkiye will continue to give full support to the steps taken by the TRNC authorities, respecting the property rights in Maraş,” the statement said.
The Council also urged Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots as well as all other parties involved on the island “to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in — and delineation of — the buffer zone,” with the resolution renewing a UN call on both sides to respect the integrity of the buffer zone, remove all unauthorized constructions, and prevent unauthorized military or civilian activities within and along the ceasefire lines.
On 21 May, an UNFICYP vehicle patrolling the buffer zone was reportedly attacked by unidentified assailants, who fled south. No peacekeepers were harmed in the shooting incident, with UNFICYP issuing a statement condemning the attack and warning such acts against peacekeepers constituted a serious crime under international law.
The resolution also expressed regret over a “lack of progress on an effective mechanism for direct military contacts between the sides and the relevant involved parties.” Greek Cypriot officials have expressed reservations over the army in the south working directly with the Turkish Cypriot army in the north, citing legal concerns.
But the Council through the resolution was urging sides to show “flexibility and engagement” with UNFICYP facilitation in order to “develop and implement an acceptable proposal on establishing such a mechanism.”
Another sticky point was the appointment of a UN envoy on Cyprus to succeed Jane Holl Lute, who resigned in September 2021. A new person has yet to be named due to a disagreement over the title of such as official, with the south favoring a position that would report directly to the UNSC and the north insisting the individual should be bypass Council politics and report directly to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres had also proposed “to unman the military positions along the ceasefire lines in return for UN validation that each side’s surveillance technology is not deployed inside the buffer zone or capable of seeing beyond it.” An UNFICYP report pointed out that the “sides’ response has so far not allowed for tangible progress” on the issue.
UNFICYP was established in March 1964 in an attempt to prevent the recurrence of interethnic violence between the two major ethnic communities on the island, which remains divided between a recognized south in the Republic of Cyprus governed by Greek Cypriots and a Turkish Cypriot north not recognized by any country except Turkey.
