Pyla incident

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday visited the bicommunal village of Pyla situated in the buffer zone following an incident in the early hours of Wednesday during which stones were thrown at Turkish Cypriot properties and a bust of Ataturk was daubed in plaster.

Turkish Cypriot papers on Thursday headlined the incident accusing Greek Cypriots of “provocations” on the eve of reunification talks. Kibris yesterday dedicated most of its front page to the episode under the banner headline “Provocations”. It said incidents such as this were serious and claimed it the act of the ultranationalist neo-Nazi organisation Golden Dawn. Halkin Sesi headlined “Greek Cypriot provocations continue in Pyla”, while Volkan said “Behold united Cyprus”. Ortam’s main headline is “Agent provocateurs are resuscitated”, while Yeni Duzen wrote “Provocations in Pyla”. Kibrisli questioned the extent to which the daily lives of the residents of Pyla would serve as a model for the lives of Cypriots after a solution of the Cyprus problem. It added there was a continuous increase in the number of people who wanted each side to confine itself to its own territory, and held up as an example the Turkish and Greek children of Pyla who do not argue with each other simply because they do not play together.

Talat visited both a Greek and Turkish Cypriot coffee shop and spoke to the town’s residents. He urged them to ignore any provocations that may seek to affect the good climate between the two communities. He also visited the representative of the Turkish Cypriot community in the village as well as the President of the Municipal Council, Christakis Antoniou.

Mr Antoniou, said that “the situation was defused as soon as it was realised that no Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot village residents were involved in the incident” and calm was reported to have returned to the village. Ahmet Muratoglu, president of the Pyla Co-ordinating Committee, yesterday insisted that “no political connotations should be given to this episode and similar isolated incidents should not be allowed to spoil the atmosphere ahead of the start of the direct talks”.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer described the attack as “unfortunate and unacceptable” and called on Turkish Cypriots to stay calm, claiming that “this is the action of some Greek Cypriot organisations which have recently increased their provocations ahead of the meeting of the two community leaders”. The attack, he said, aimed “to overshadow the atmosphere” ahead of the September 3 meeting between President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

Earlier yesterday, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou condemned the vandalism of Turkish Cypriot properties as well as the Turkish Cypriot media’s references to “provocations” by Greek Cypriots.

On Thursday, Rauf Denktash and Tahsin Erturuglu, leader of the National Unity Party visited the village. The NUP issued a statement condemning the attacks and claimed that “these are not an isolated incident” but “the repetition of the well-known stance of the Greek Cypriots and the extension of the claims of the Greek Cypriot side for suzerainty on the island”. Turkish Cypriot newspaper Volkan wrote that “the incident in Pyla demonstrates the need for the presence of Turkish troops on the island”.Meanwhile, the Cyprus Mail reports that residents of the bi-communal village said yesterday that there were no problems in relations between them. They said that the coverage was sensationalist and that the whole incident was a provocation from unknown persons in an attempt to degrade the good relations between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, especially in Pyla.Pyla is the only settlement in Cyprus still inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot residents.