Christodoulides: ‘Violations In The Buffer Zone Are A Deliberate Effort’

According to Haravgi newspaper, Christodoulides made the remarks to journalists following yesterday’s opening ceremony of the new building of the University of Cyprus.

He alleged that another violation had occurred in the buffer zone yesterday and claimed that such incidents were increasing, adding that they were in contact with the United Nations regarding the matter.

Christodoulides argued that the aim of these violations was to turn the buffer zone into a subject of dispute and said it was important for the UN to react to this.

He stated that verbal reactions alone were not enough for them and stressed that they wanted to “see results.”

He further claimed that another purpose of these violations was to create problems for the new initiative launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

According to Christodoulides, the goal was to reopen discussion around UN Security Council Resolution 186 of 15 March 1964 and to seek a separate agreement with what he described as the “occupation regime.”

He said he had raised these views during a recent meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

Christodoulides also claimed that Guterres’ new initiative on the Cyprus issue had begun last month following the UN chief’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, arguing that it would not begin in July as President Tufan Erhürman had stated.

He said that the necessary preparations were being carried out both at the UN level and through the personal envoy, and that contacts were continuing to create the necessary conditions for an expanded meeting aimed at restarting negotiations.

Asked whether he would hold a new meeting with Erhürman, Christodoulides said that several dates had been proposed and that an official announcement would be made within the next 24 hours.