Zypern

[…] UNFICYP has been understudied by the peacekeeping research community, which has been more focused on multidimensional missions. … In the current context of a paralyzed Security Council, lessons from missions created during the Cold War are increasingly important, as is the study of interposition forces as a potential conflict prevention mechanism. A new EPON report on the UN presence in Cyprus tries to fill that gap, while also looking at the interaction between peacekeeping and peacemaking in the country.

This report assesses the extent to which the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) along with the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus (OSASG) – also called the mission of the Good Offices – is achieving its mandate enshrined in Resolution 164 of March 1964. In 2024, the UN Missions in Cyprus will celebrate the 60th anniversary of their presence in the country, and it seems timely to analyse their impact and effectiveness over the years.

The UN Security Council has condemned the decision by Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to reopen a residential section of an abandoned suburb and called for “the immediate reversal” of this unilateral action, warning that it could raise tensions on the divided Mediterranean island.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled out a reunification of Cyprus and is calling for a two-state solution, a move that threatens to escalate tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish leader made the comments while attending commemorations marking the 1974 Turkish invasion of the now-divided island.

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The European Union will "never ever" accept the agreement on the establishment of two states in ethnically divided Cyprus. This was stated today by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The President of the EC, who is visiting Cyprus, stated that the European Union is unanimous on the issue of that conflict, which has lasted for decades and represents a key obstacle in Turkey's ambitions to join the European bloc, reports the AP agency.

Preliminary UN talks on Cypriot reunification have broken up with the two sides further apart than before they began.

A fresh United Nations-led bid to seek to resolve decades of tensions in Cyprus began in Geneva on Tuesday, with Secretary-General António Guterres “realistic” about the chances of making progress, his Spokesperson said.

The Security Council, acting through its temporary silence procedure amid the ongoing COVID‑19 pandemic, decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further period ending on 31 July 2021.

[…] Although the situation in and around the buffer zone continued on the whole to be calm and military-level tensions were generally low, political tensions increased significantly, linked to the broader political and regional context.