The activation of the measures in relation to the Government’s response to the violation by the Turkish occupation forces of the buffer zone in the area of Agios Dometios in Nicosia, has begun this morning, according to Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis.

In his statements after a meeting at the Presidential Palace of the President of the Republic with officials of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, and, asked about the measures announced by the President in relation to the issue of the violation of the buffer zone in Agios Dometios, the Spokesperson said that “the activation of the measures has started”. He added that he could not say more, but that there was a plan which has been activated since this morning. He noted that some measures were visible and some were not.

He said that the Government expects from the UN peacekeeping force to ensure the status of the buffer zone, noting that they were in constant communication with UNFICYP.

Asked if UNFICYP was also part of this planning or if the measures have simply been communicated to them, the Spokesperson said that the peacekeeping force had been informed, before the measures’ implementation “that in the event that the status of the buffer zone is not restored within a certain timeframe, these measures would be activated”.

To another question, he said that, based on the information they have received from the peacekeeping force, the situation in the buffer zone “remains unchanged”, and that UNFICYP were present in the area, while the Government was in constant communication with them.

On Monday afternoon, the Turkish occupation forces entered the buffer zone, which is UN-controlled land separating the northern Turkish occupied areas from the southern government-controlled part of the country, in the area of Agios Dometios, and installed on an uninhabited residence there, known as “Maria’s House”, a metal mast on which a rotating camera and antenna were mounted.

On Wednesday afternoon, UNFICYP took action to stop a new violation of the buffer zone in Agios Dometios area, after men of the Turkish occupation army entered the buffer zone in a military vehicle.

Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Wednesday that the measures decided by the Republic of Cyprus in response to the Turkish violations in the buffer zone would be implemented as of Thursday morning.

These incidents follow another one last August, when Turkish Cypriots punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews illegally working on a road that would encroach on a U.N. controlled buffer zone in the area of Pyla, in the Larnaca district.

The international community, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, condemned August’s attack. Later on, an understanding was reached which provides that a single urban development area would be created, which would ensure the harmonious coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the area of Pyla. Works, that begun based on this understanding, were temporarily halted earlier this month to resolve complaints by some Turkish Cypriot land owners, who believe that their plots are affected.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion. Numerous peace talks under the UN aegis with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results. The latest round of talks took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana.