FM to brief counterparts about Pyla incident
Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Tuesday he will inform his EU counterparts on the situation in the buffer zone near Pyla, where scuffles broke out between UN peacekeepers in Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots trying to build a road through the UN area to the village of Arsos.
Kombos will inform his EU counterparts on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting set to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Toledo, Spain.
According to the foreign ministry, Kombos will inform his EU counterparts on Thursday about the incidents that took place in the buffer zone on August 18, as well as about the press statement of the United Nations Security Council issued on the occasion of these incidents, stressing that Nicosia remains focused and committed to the goal of restarting dialogue to resolve the Cyprus issue, based on the resolutions of the Security Council and within the framework of the United Nations.
Kombos is also set to discuss Nicosia’s efforts to restart Cyprus talks and the discussions currently being held by the UN on this matter.
Meanwhile, reports in daily Politis on Tuesday said that the UN is close to brokering an agreement between both sides on the Pyla-Arsos road.
According to information sources close to the UN peacekeeping force, the message resulting from Unficyp chief Colin Stewart’s contacts so far with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides is moderate optimism and that a glimmer for an agreement appears to be emerging from the consultations.
According to the report, the Greek Cypriot side said the construction of the road from Arsos in the north to Pyla, for humanitarian reasons as claimed by the Turkish Cypriot side, must be combined with the wider development of the small village [Pyla].
The proposal of the Greek Cypriot side is for an agreed framework for the creative development of Pyla within the framework of a programme, with the provision of incentives for residential development in combination with the definition of agricultural and livestock zones.
The climate in the consultations has clearly improved compared to the first days of Stewart’s contacts.
The report said the United Nations is working on a formula that reassures both sides of their concerns. Based on the indications that exist, the two sides seem to be reaching a compromise based on the Greek Cypriot side’s proposal to open the road with an agreement to define development zones in the area.