UN says it will block road construction that would encroach on a buffer zone in divided Cyprus

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The United Nations peacekeeping force in the ethnically divided Cyprus says it will block road construction by breakaway Turkish Cypriots that would encroach on a U.N.-controlled buffer zone. The road could also raise tensions on the Mediterranean island nation. The spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force says the world body would “block or frustrate construction of the road by non-violent means” because the road would violate the forces’ mandate of maintaining the status quo inside the buffer zone. Work began on Thursday on the road that Greek Cypriots perceive as a move with a military purpose at a sensitive spot along the buffer zone that spans 180 kilometers, or 120 miles.