Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar engaged in discussions on Monday with a senior UN official during the official’s three-day visit to the island, a visit taking place against the backdrop of a road construction dispute.
Tatar and Miroslav Jenca, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, convened in the capital city of Lefkosa for talks that extended for an hour and a half at the presidential building.
Attending the meeting were Colin Stewart, the Head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, and Ergun Olgun, the Special Representative of the Turkish Cypriot President.
Jenca’s visit follows the intervention of UN peacekeepers on August 18 to halt road construction aimed at connecting the Turkish Cypriot village of Pile within the buffer zone to the broader Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
In remarks to reporters after the meeting, President Tatar emphasized that the “Pile-Yigitler road construction plan is rooted in humanitarian necessity.” Tatar conveyed to Jenca his view that the UN peacekeepers’ move to obstruct the construction of a “humanitarian” road linking the Pile and Yigitler villages is “unacceptable.”
In response, the UN official stated, “We hope to find common ground in the future that enables the resumption of peace talks that benefit the entire populace.”
Jenca, who is set to remain in Cyprus from August 27 to 29, conducted a separate meeting earlier in the day with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides.
The expansion of the road holds strategic importance for the local residents, as it will provide them with enhanced travel options to reach Pile, where Turkish and Greek Cypriots coexist. Once the construction and repair work spanning 11.6 kilometers (7.2 miles) concludes, Pile’s residents will have the advantage of shorter travel distances and will no longer need to traverse British bases when crossing to the Turkish side.
The initial 7.5 kilometers (4.66 miles) of the road will traverse the village of Yigitler, followed by the remaining 4.1 kilometers (2.55 miles) passing through Pile.
However, the Greek Cypriot administration and the UN express opposition to the project.
