UNFICYP to stay in Cyprus “as long as necessary”

The United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), one of the longest serving UN peace-keeping forces, has said it will remain on the island as long as necessary.

An UNFICYP press release, issued Tuesday in response to a Cyprus Mail report suggesting that had incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos won the presidential elections, the U.N. would abandon all peace efforts, said “reports in the English-language media today that the United Nations intended to pull out of Cyprus in the event of a victory by President Papadopoulos are totally baseless and irresponsible.”

UNFICYP notes that “the United Nations has been in Cyprus for over four decades helping to keep the peace and assisting the parties in their search for a comprehensive solution.”

“It will continue to do so as long as Cypriots and the international community deem it necessary”, it adds.

UNFICYP, comprising over 1,000 men and women from eight troop contributing countries, arrived in Cyprus in March 1964, after intercommunal fighting broke out between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities.

Its mandate was revised following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which divided the country. The government of Cyprus contributes substantially to the upkeep of the force.