Cyprus peace process

Türkiye's president on Aug. 21 criticized U.N. peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in Turkish Cyprus, calling the action "unacceptable" and accusing the peacekeeping force of bias against Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye would not allow any "unlawful" behavior toward Turks on Cyprus.

The UN Security Council on Monday called unauthorized construction by Turkish Cypriots inside the UN buffer zone dividing Cyrus a violation of the status quo that is contrary to council resolutions and it condemned their assault on UN peacekeepers.

US Representative John Sarbanes holds Turkish President Erdogan accountable for the attacks by Turkish Cypriots against UN peacekeepers in Pyla and calls on US President Joe Biden to ensure that the crisis is "meaningfully addressed" by the United Nations.

The authorities in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus must "immediately withdraw all personnel and equipment from the UN buffer zone," three members of the US Congress have said, after Turkish Cypriots assaulted a number of international peacekeepers for obstructing construction teams building a road that would encroach on the buffer zone.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday didn't rule out reviving deadlocked negotiations to resolve Cyprus' nearly 50-year ethnic division, but again rejected any deal that wouldn't offer Turkish Cypriots a state of their own.

Τhat position stands against a United Nations-sanctioned framework envisioning a federated island nation.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized the recent statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which proposed a federal solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated that the only way for the resumption of talks for resolving the decades-old Cyprus problem is the recognition of Turkish Cyprus as an independent entity with international status.

Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides insisted on Wednesday that he is ready for a meeting with Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar "even tomorrow."

Cypriots are voting Sunday for a new president who they'll expect to decisively steer the small island nation through shifting geopolitical sands and uncertain economic times that have become people's overriding concern, eclipsing stalemated efforts to remedy the country's ethnic division.

Turkish provocations and the Cyprus problem are expected to be at the heart of the contacts during Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades' visit to Athens on Wednesday. 

According to Nicosia, Turkey's behavior is not consistent with a constructive attitude that could allow for a sincere discussion on a solution to the Cyprus problem.