Presidency “UN should immediately revert from its mistake before the crisis escalates”

The Presidency issued a statement on the Taksim Field stating that before the crisis escalates the UN should immediately revert from its mistake, which is understood to have been pressured by the Greek Cypriot side. Following the renovation of the historical Taksim Field with the financing of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Türkiye as a result of the Foreign Affairs initiatives under the UN, the attitude of the UN Peacekeeping Force to prevent physical access to the area is unacceptable, the statement said. It said that the Taksim Field, which has great historical importance in the just struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people, in sports and cultural terms, has been used by the Çetinkaya Sports Club since 1930. Following the renovation work carried out at the field to be opened to the service of the youth, the UN Peacekeeping Force placed barbed wires at the gates, damaging the historical Lefkoşa walls. Also, the placement of block barriers in addition to the barbed wire at the beginning of the week not only violates the status quo but also causes deprivation of rights, the statement added. This behavior of the UN does not comply with the spirit of sports and the values of the Olympics’, and is a movement made without considering universal sports, it said. “For decades the UN Peacekeeping Force has been ignoring the Greek Cypriot side's continued violation of the buffer zone and the construction of structures aimed at taking control of the buffer zone, including a university in Pile, an open cinema in Derinya, solar panels and farm extensions. The UN should immediately reverse this mistake, which is understood to have been made by Greek Cypriot pressure before the crisis escalates,” the statement concluded.