It was the most serious incident of its kind in years on the east Mediterranean island and drew widespread international condemnation. The UN said four peacekeepers were injured and its vehicles were also damaged as they tried to block the “unauthorized construction work” near Pyla. “All is calm in Pyla this morning,” Aleem Siddique, spokesman for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), told AFP. Only Ankara recognizes the statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed by Turkish Cypriot leaders in 1983. Efforts to reunify the island have been at a standstill since the last round of UN-backed talks collapsed in 2017.
