UNFICYP celebrates 60 years of service in Cyprus

UNFICYP marks 60 years in the service of peace in Cyprus. On 4 March 1964, the United Nations Security Council mandated the establishment of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

Resolution 186 (1964) had provided for the function of the Force to be in the interest of preserving international peace and security, to use its best efforts to prevent a recurrence of fighting and to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and a return to normal conditions. The initial stationing of the Force was for a period of three months. UNFICYP is today one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions.

To mark the occasion, UNFICYP is organising on Monday at 14.00 (local time) a medal parade in the United Nations Protected Area in Nicosia. It will be followed by the unveiling of a monument outside the Ledra Palace Hotel at 17.15 to pay tribute to all those who have served in the Mission.

At the medal parade, the UN will recognise and pay tribute to the 43 countries that have contributed uniformed personnel to the Peacekeeping Force over the past 60 years, as well as the 187 peacekeepers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives in the service of peace on the island. Currently serving military and police personnel will receive a United Nations medal for their contribution to the Mission’s mandate.

At the unveiling of the monument, representatives of Troop and Police Contributing Countries will attend the event in the buffer zone to honour the contributions and sacrifice of UN peacekeepers.

Special Representative Colin Stewart is hosting a reception in the afternoon to mark the Force's 60th anniversary. CNA has learnt that the leaders of the two communities were invited at the event but are not expected to attend due to other obligations.

The focus of the event will be on civil society members attending as well as ambassadors.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.