UniteCyprusNow strongly condemns the unilateral moves in the buffer zone by the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides and the attack against United Nations personnel, which contravenes international law. The issue regarding the easy access of Turkish Cypriots in Pyla to the northern part of the island or any other issue that is the subject of disagreement among sides should be addressed in a spirit of cooperation and without any unilateral step with an urge to demonstrate power, eagerness to provoke and establish faits-accomplis in the buffer zone.
The incident in Pyla has been yet another tangible proof that the situation in Cyprus is not sustainable and it has the potential to trigger even bigger crises. New faits-accomplis on and around Cyprus, the challenge of UNFICYP's authority and mandate, increasing nationalism and militarism, lack of a peacebuilding process, the thriving of corruption on both sides of the island facilitated by the division and the state of emergency and the constant limitations to fulfilling the country's potential, are all at the detriment of the island's people.
Following Turkey’s intervention in the last Turkish Cypriot election that replaced the Turkish Cypriot leadership, and the politics of tension now followed, it is the ordinary Turkish Cypriot people, outside the circle of access to power and privileges, that are the ones harmed. By choosing aggression and confrontation over dialogue and cooperation, the current Turkish Cypriot leadership isolates its people from the international community and hinders their prospects for a viable future. For Greek Cypriots, the lack of a settlement should remind them of the risks of such tensions. In absence of a settlement there can be no such thing as "status quo" but only a constantly deteriorating situation. Walking away from the commitment to the UN resolutions and agreed framework of a federal solution based on political equality is a dangerous game that no side should resort to.
Since its establishment in 2017, UniteCyprusNow has been warning against all that a lack of a political settlement carries with it and has been addressing the urgent need to find a solution to the Cyprus problem in parallel with a reconciliation process on the ground.
In this setting we need to be reminded that as things stand today, this is not a struggle of one community over the other. This is a struggle of those who believe in the prospect of a united, federal Cyprus, in the spirit of cooperation, over those who oppose it by any means possible. Now is the time for the people who still believe in peace on the island, to make their voice heard, if we are to leave our past behind and not allow fanaticism to dictate the lives of future generations as well. It is high time that Cypriots understood we are stronger together in working for a viable, secure and stable future in an increasingly challenging setting.
