The Republic of Cyprus has fulfilled all its international obligations that derive from the Ottawa Convention, as regards to areas where it exercises effective control, the Foreign Ministry told CNA on Friday.
The Foreign Ministry was invited to comment on UNFICYP`s position that in recent years, “the two sides have continued to prevent access for demining to the four known mined areas in the buffer zone, of which are under the control of the National Guard and one under that of the Turkish forces”.
“The Republic of Cyprus has fulfilled all its international obligations which derive, first and foremost, from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, as regards to areas where it exercises effective control”, the Ministry said.
Turkey, the FM pointed out, “as the occupation force that exercises effective control in the northern part of Cyprus, and as a contracting party to the Ottawa Convention, is obliged to undertake and fulfill its responsibilities as regards to the more than 20 minefields it maintains in the Turkish occupied areas”.
The UN maintained that in 2015, four minefields remained inside the buffer zone and more than 35 minefields were still scattered across the island.
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. UNFICYP arrived on the island in March 1964, one of the longest serving UN peace-keeping forces, and continues its presence here.
CNA/EC/MM/2016
