The leader of Turkish Cyprus remained adamant that the unrecognized state will continue building a controversial road on the divided island after a tussle with United Nations peacekeepers.
“We are determined to complete this road,” Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar told the Turkey's private television channel Haberturk on Friday.
What happened: Turkish Cyprus is planning to build a road from the village of Arsos within its territory to the village of Pyla, located in the conflicted zone between Turkish and Greek Cyprus. Pyla is located just south of the 180-kilometer United Nations buffer zone where the island is split into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus.
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus on Thursday condemned the work on the road. A spokesman for the force also said it would block construction by nonviolent means. The construction would encroach on the buffer zone and is opposed by the UN and the Republic of Cyprus, The Associated Press reported.
