Erdogan blames UN peacekeepers after Cyprus assault

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused United Nations peacekeepers of instigating violence in which several members of the agency's mission were assaulted on Cyprus.

The United Nations said Turkish Cypriot forces on Friday attacked peacekeepers who were attempting to block construction of a road in the buffer zone separating the divided east Mediterranean island.

The confrontation occurred in an ethnically mixed village in the UN-patrolled area between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus in the south and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north.

The breakaway government is recognised internationally only by Turkey.

Erdogan accused the UN force of illegally moving into Turkish Cypriot territory to halt the construction of the road.

"The physical intervention of the UN forces on the territory of [northern Cyprus] last Friday is unacceptable," Erdogan said in his first public remarks about one of the most serious incidents of its kind on the island in years.

"It is neither legal nor humane to prevent Turkish Cypriots living in Pyla from accessing their homeland."

The United Nations said four peacekeepers were wounded as they tried to block the "unauthorised construction work" near Pyla.

The European Union condemned Friday's violence, and Washington blamed it on unauthorised construction begun on the Turkish Cypriot side.

The incident occurred as Erdogan is looking to bolster relations with the European Union.

Last month, he dropped Turkey's opposition to Sweden joining the NATO defence alliance in exchange for a pledge from Brussels to revive Ankara's long-stalled accession talk to the European bloc.

But EU officials have made talks on closer ties with Turkey contingent on settling the decades-long Cyprus dispute.

"Solving the Cyprus issue in line with the relevant United Nations resolutions will be key in this reengagement with Turkey," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said last month.