United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

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United Nations
Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
WebsiteUNFICYP Home page

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a

intercommunal violence between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and to facilitate a return to normal conditions.[2] Major General Ingrid Gjerde is the current Force Commander of UNFICYP, appointed in 2021, and preceded by Cheryl Pearce (Australia).[3]
Assistant Police Commissioner Satu Koivu (Finland) is the current Senior Police Adviser appointed in 2021.

Following the

Cyprus dispute
.

Initially, UNFICYP consisted of military and civilian contingents drawn from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. However, over its long history the force has been the subject of

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, El Salvador, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Peru, Serbia, Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom
.

As of 2018, the mission has a strength of 1,009.[4] The mandate for UNFICYP was last renewed on 30 January 2024 and extended until 31 January 2025.[5]

History

Part of a series on
the
Cyprus dispute
Cyprus peace process
History
referendums)
1999-2004
2008–2012 talks2008-2012
2014 talks2014
2015–2017 talks2015–2017
Primary concerns
Secondary concerns
International brokers
Proposals
Projects
  • Civil Society Dialogue

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a

intercommunal violence between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and to facilitate a return to normal conditions.[2]

Following the

Cyprus dispute
.

On 5 December 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended a further six-month extension in the mandate of the UN mission that has been deployed on the island for over four decades. Mr. Annan said that while the situation remained "calm and stable with no major violations of the ceasefire lines," he regretted the continued stalemate in the political process and the "missed opportunities" over the past 10 years.[citation needed]

Fatalities

Up to and including 30 June 2017, UNFICYP has suffered 183 fatalities:[6][7]

  • Accidents: 99
  • Illnesses: 45
  • Malicious acts: 15
  • Other: 24

Deployment

UNFICYP is headquartered from the Blue Beret Camp next to the abandoned airport of Nicosia. The current force commander is Major General Ingrid Gjerde of Norway, (UNFICYP) Force Commander of United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.[8]

Prior to 1974

UNFICYP deployments as of December 1972.

Upon UNFICYP's arrival on the island, the national contingents were each assigned a sector, which mostly coincided with the boundaries of the civil districts:[9]

  • Paphos District – Austrian contingent
  • Lefka District (consisting of the Western part of Nicosia District) – Danish contingent
  • Limassol Zone (consisting of
    Larnaka District
    ) – British contingent
  • Nicosia District – Canadian contingent
  • Larnaca Sector (consisting of the Eastern half of Larnaka District) – Irish contingent
  • Kyrenia District – Finnish contingent
  • Famagusta District – Swedish contingent

When, in October 1973, the Irish contingent was withdrawn from Cyprus in support of the United Nations Emergency Force during the Yom Kippur War, the Austrian contingent was relocated from Paphos District (which was subsequently absorbed by the British contingent) to Larnaca District to replace them, with the Western half, which had previously been patrolled by the British contingent, absorbed into the Austrian sector.[9]

Canada in UNFICYP – From 15 March 1964 to 15 June 1993, Canada maintained a battalion-sized contingent of peace-support troops in UNFICYP. During this period, the Canadian contingent went through 59 rotations and some 25,000 CAF personnel completed six-month tours on the island. With Denmark, Ireland and Finland, Canada was one of the four original contributors of troops to UNFICYP, committed by the government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson on 12 March 1964. The lead elements of the initial rotation of the Canadian contingent arrived on 15 March 1964, followed by a brigade headquarters, the 1st Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, and a Reconnaissance Squadron from The Royal Canadian Dragoons mounted in Ferret scout cars that were transported to Cyprus by HMCS Bonaventure. By 1993, when Canada withdrew its combat arms contingent from UNFICYP, every infantry battalion of the Regular Force had deployed to Cyprus at least once, and Regular Force artillery and armoured regiments had reorganized for infantry duties to take their turns. The current contribution are small numbers of staff officers on one-year rotations. The operation name “Snowgoose” dates from July 1974, when the Canadian contingent in UNFICYP — originally made up of 1 Commando, Canadian Airborne Regiment, and the Airborne Field Squadron (the combat engineer element of the Canadian Airborne Regiment) — was rapidly augmented by 2 Commando and 3 Commando in response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus that began on 20 July 1974.[10]

Since 1993

UNFICYP deployment as of 2015
Argentine
Contingent's San Martin Camp

As of 31 May 2012, the total strength (military personnel and civilian police) of UNFICYP is 926 individuals. The 858 military personnel are from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Hungary, Paraguay, Peru, Serbia,[11] Slovakia and the United Kingdom.[12]

On 31 October 2019, Ghana began contributing to the peacekeeping forces in Cyprus.[13]

UNFICYP's military personnel are mostly divided up into national contingents, with each major contingent being responsible for one of the buffer zone's three remaining sectors. The Argentine contingent includes soldiers from the

Croatia.[12]

  • Sector 1 starts at
    Kokkina exclave and covers approximately 90 kilometres to Mammari, west of Nicosia. It has been the responsibility of the Argentinian Contingent since October 1993. Sector One Headquarters and Command Company are located in San Martin Camp, which is near Skouriotissa village. Support Company finds its home at Roca Camp, near Xeros in the north. The two line companies composed of 212 troops are deployed along four permanently manned patrol bases while also conducting mobile patrols from the San Martin and Roca camps.[14]
  • Sector 2 starts at Mammari, west of Nicosia and covers 30 kilometres to Kaimakli, east of Nicosia. Since 1993, has been the responsibility of the 183-strong British contingent, which deploys using the name Operation TOSCA.[15]
  • Sector 4 (the actual 3rd Sector, but because of UNFICYP history still named Sector 4) starts at Kaimakli, east of Nicosia and covers 65 Kilometres to the village of Dhernia, on the east coast of Cyprus. Since 1993, it has been the responsibility of the Slovakian and Hungarian contingent with 202 Soldiers.[16]

In addition to the main sector contingents, there are several other military units under UNFICYP command, including:

There are 69 civilian police officers supplied by Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, El Salvador, India, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Ukraine. In addition, UNFICYP has 147 civilian staff members, 39 of whom were internationally recruited and 108 locally recruited.[12]

UNFICYP military strength as of November 2023:[21]

Country Membership Strength
NATO EU
 Argentina No No 249
 Austria No Yes 3
 Bangladesh No No 1
 Brazil No No 2
 Canada Yes No 1
 Chile No No 6
 Hungary Yes Yes 11
 India No No 1
 Pakistan No No 3
 Paraguay No No 12
 Russia No No 4
 Serbia No No 8
 Slovakia Yes Yes 240
 United Kingdom Yes No 257
14 4 3 797

Buffer Zone

Main article: United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus
The UN buffer zone is shown in light blue on the map
The buffer zone near Nicosia's Paphos Gate
Gate in the UN buffer zone
Nicosia guardpost in the UN buffer zone

The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus is a

Sovereign Base Areas) in the south and that under the illegal Turkish occupation in the north. The zone runs for more than 180.5 kilometres (112.2 mi) along what is colloquially known as the Green Line and has an area of 346 square kilometres (134 sq mi).[22]

The zone stretches for 180 km from the western part of near Kato Pyrgos to the east just south of Famagusta. It cuts through the center of the old town of

Sovereign Base Area and the area under the Republic of Cyprus control or Turkish Army control.[citation needed
]

The buffer zone is home to some 10,000 people and there are several villages and farms located within. The village of Pyla is famous for being the only village on Cyprus where Greeks and Turks live side by side. Other villages are Dhenia, Mammari, Athienou and Troulli while Lymbia lies partially within the zone.[citation needed]

Turkish forces built a barrier on the zone's northern side, consisting mainly of barbed-wire fencing, concrete wall segments, watchtowers, anti-tank ditches, and minefields. This line is also referred to as the Attila Line on some maps, named after the Turkish code-name for the 1974 military invasion:

Operation Atilla. The closed off zone has become a haven for Cyprus' wildlife, an example of an involuntary park.[23]

Finances

The annual cost for maintaining UNFICYP is estimated at $57,390,000. This includes the voluntary contribution by the Government of Cyprus of one third of the cost of the force and the annual amount of $6,500,000 contributed by the Government of Greece. Turkey does not directly contribute to the force's budget.[12] The operational cost of UNFICYP just during the period from 16 June 1993 to 31 October 2010 was US$2.91 billion.[24]

Neutrality of UNFICYP

UNFICYP's neutrality mandate dictates the erasure of signs, flags, and emblems in spaces under its authority.[25]

The fact that a third of

UNFICYP's budget is covered by one party to the conflict (RoC; i.e., the Greek Cypriots) and one Guarantor (Greece) calls into question the UN's neutrality and constitutes “a conflict of interest"[26] One interlocutor acknowledged that the way the budget of UNFICYP is organized "opens [UNFICYP] to criticism."[27] One added: "How can we be impartial if we take part of the budget from one side?"[28]

In January 2022, around a handball match between

TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry also criticized the UNFICYP for not playing a "facilitating role" to in the Turkish team's request, claiming "UNFICYP has moved away from the principle of neutrality, which is one of the most fundamental elements of peace operations, and has become a symbol of the status quo that serves the interests of the Greek Cypriot side."[29] The player was eventually flown to Turkey instead.[30]

Soydemir noted that "not the organization but the individuals can be affected by this approach and their neutrality might be hampered naturally."[31]

Removal of UNFICYP from Cyprus island

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported in 2011 that "Preliminary internal discussions about the UN presence in Cyprus had been initiated" and hinted that "UNFICYP's continued presence on the island could not be taken for granted".[32]

Removal of UNFICYP from Northern Cyprus

In July 2018, the Turkish Cypriot president,

UNFICYP continues to cooperate with the authorities of Northern Cyprus absent a legal basis and specified that Northern Cyprus stood ready to prepare a document with the UN dealing with all aspects of their relations.[33]

In October 2022, UNFICYP was given an ultimatum by Northern Cyprus (the de facto administration in the north) demanding it recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus or to leave the 2 bases it currently has in the north.[34][35][36] Ersin Tatar, the president of Northern Cyprus, stated that in line with the Brahimi Report of the UN,[37] the consent of Northern Cyprus for the stationing of UNFICYP is a must.[38] Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, the foreign minister of Northern Cyprus, stated that the deadline for the ultimatum for requesting the approval of Northern Cyprus for the operations of UNFICYP in Northern Cyprus is the end of October 2022.[39]

On 28 September 2023,

TRNC. Turkey will continue to guarantee security and peace for Turkish Cypriots in the context of Turkey’s rights emanating from international law and treaties."[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Leadership". 13 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b "United Nations Security Council Resolution 186(1964)" (PDF). United Nations. 4 March 1964. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Major General Cheryl Pearce of Australia - Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) | United Nations Secretary-General".
  4. ^ "Unficyp".
  5. ^ "Resolution 2723 (2024)".
  6. ^ "UN Peacekeeping Fatalities by Mission and Incident Type" (PDF). United Nations. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  7. ^ "About". 7 May 2014.
  8. ^ "First Case of CoronaVirus in UNFICYP". Daily Cyprus. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1844150816
    .
  10. ^ "SNOWGOOSE | Operations Abroad | National Defence | Canadian Armed Forces". Forces.gc.ca. 20 February 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Srpski mirovnjaci otputovali na Kipar" (in Serbian). Blic Online. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d "UNFICYP Facts and Figures". United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Ghana joins ranks of Troop Contributing Countries to UNFICYP". United Nations. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Sector One". UNFICYP. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Sector Two". UNFICYP. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Sector Four". UNFICYP. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  17. ^ a b c "Other Key Units". UNFICYP. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  18. ^ a b "United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus" (in Spanish). Argentine Air Force. 8 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  19. ^ "VII Brigada Aerea". Helis.com.
  20. ^ "Photo Release: Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at Larnaca airport before being flown by UN helicopter to Beirut". UNFICYP. 27 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  21. ^ "Unficyp".
  22. ^ "United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus".
  23. doi:10.1002/crq.21040
    .
  24. ^ "Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations operation in Cyprus S/2010/605" (PDF). United Nations. 26 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  25. ^ Marie Louise Stig Sørensen and Dacia Viejo-Rose, 2015, War and Cultural Heritage, Cambridge University Press. p.202. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/war-and-cultural-heritage/AE5A7FAC312831F019EC51B90AE6838C
  26. UNFICYP) and the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus (OSASG)", Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. https://effectivepeaceops.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EPON-Cyprus-Report.pdf
  27. ^ Novosselof, 2021, "Assessing the Effectiveness of the ...UNFICYP..., Interview, UN staff, e-meeting, New York, 15.01.2021. https://effectivepeaceops.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EPON-Cyprus-Report.pdf page 150
  28. ^ Novosselof, 2021, "Assessing the Effectiveness of the ...UNFICYP..., Interview, former UN staff, e-meeting, 03.02.2021. https://effectivepeaceops.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EPON-Cyprus-Report.pdf page 150
  29. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Statement of the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. https://mfa.gov.ct.tr/statement-of-the-trnc-ministry-of-foreign-affairs
  30. ^ "Turkish handball player air lifted from Cyprus by Turkey". 28 January 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  31. ^ Novosselof, 2021, "Assessing the Effectiveness of the ...UNFICYP..., Abdullah Soydemir, "The Role and Effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Cyprus Island", Girne American University, 30.04.2018. https://effectivepeaceops.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EPON-Cyprus-Report.pdf page 150
  32. ^ "Our View: UN is stepping up the pressure". Cyprus Mail. 5 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  33. ^ Elias Hazou (29 September 2023). "Turkey calls for written agreement between north and UNFICYP". cyprus-mail.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  34. ^ Nikolaos Prakas (5 October 2022). "North hands Unficyp a one-month deadline". cyprus-mail.com.
  35. ^ "Turkish Cyprus gives UN peacekeepers ultimatum to seek approval". dailysabah.com. 6 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Turkish Cypriots give UN peacekeepers ultimatum: report". france24.com. 5 October 2022.
  37. ^ Lakhdar Brahimi (17 August 2000). "(A/55/305 S/2000/809) Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations" (PDF). The UN. Retrieved 13 October 2022. "The Panel concurs that consent of the local parties, impartiality and the use of force only in self-defence should remain the bedrock principles of peacekeeping (Executive Summary, page ix)
  38. ^ Muhammet İkbal Arslan (4 August 2022). "TRNC President Tatar: We have not yet received a response from the Greek Cypriot side in response to our cooperation proposals". Anadolu Ajansi. Retrieved 13 October 2022. In the advisory Brahimi Report, which was prepared by the UN in 2000, there is a statement that 'If the UN is going to deploy a UN Peacekeeping Force in areas of conflict, it must absolutely obtain the approval of the parties'. Now the page has changed in Cyprus, a new policy has been developed on the basis of a solution based on the two existing states and their sovereign equality and equal international status. As the Turkish side, we remind the UN of the Brahimi Report. In the report presented to the UN Secretary General by the Peacekeeping Operations Panel formed by the UN in 2000, it is underlined that obtaining the consent of local parties and maintaining impartiality are the basic principles for UN peacekeeping operations. Look at the Brahimi Report and see the facts in Cyprus and make a new assessment. One cannot get anywhere by ignoring the acquired sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot People. We expect the UN to observe the requirements of our acquired and vested equality.
  39. ^ "New messages of Ertugruloglu to the UN". Kibrispostasi. Retrieved 16 October 2022. )
  40. ^ Yildiz Nevin Gundogmus (29 September 2023). "MGK statement: The path to permanent peace in the South Caucasus can be opened with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan". aa.com.tr. Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

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