BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:38 Page 1 UNFICYP Helps sides build confidence BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:38 Page 2 THE BLUE BERET Published monthly by the: Editorial Public Information Office Autumn is here, although one could be forgiven for United Nations Force in Cyprus not noticing, given the high temperatures. HQ UNFICYP PO Box 21642 Notwithstanding the warmth, the pick-up in activity 1590 Nicosia in UNFICYP and in relation to the peace process is a Cyprus definite sign that summer is over. Tel: 2261-4553/4416/4408 Fax: 2261-4461 Of course, not everything came to a halt in July and E-mail: [email protected] August. Among other things, UNFICYP’s [email protected] humanitarian activities continued, patrolling of the Website:www.unficyp.org buffer zone went on uninterrupted, the force’s Editorial Team engineers carried out essential maintenance and José Díaz repairs on the road that will serve the future Miriam Taylor Limnitis/ Yeşilırmak crossing point, and work with Netha Kreouzos the good offices mission facilitating the peace Ersin Öztoycan process took place, although at a slower pace. SSgt. Pavol Kubis (Photographer) Capt. Tomas Daño This time of year is always a busy one, but especially so this time. There is much expectation Unit Press Officers regarding the peace process, which has now entered Sector 1 Maj. Julian Gonzalez its second year. When it renewed UNFICYP’s Sector 2 Maj. Susan Aitken mandate in May this year, the Security Council Sector 4 Capt. Marian Filip asked the Secretary-General to report on MFR Lt. Jonathan Frankling “contingency planning in relation to the settlement, UNPOL Garda John Kennedy by 1 December 2009”. In addition, UNFICYP will UN Flt Lt. Juan Fernandez continue to work with the good offices mission in the FMPU Maj. Robert Schütz United Nations integrated effort to help the Cyprus leaders reach a comprehensive settlement they can The Blue Beret is UNFICYP’s in-house then put before their respective communities. journal. Views expressed are of the au- thors concerned, and do not neces-sar- ily conform with official policy. Much will be happening over the next few weeks in Cyprus and pretty soon the (relatively) lazy days of Serving UNFICYP’s civilian, military and police personnel Articles of general interest (plus photos with captions) are invited from all mem- summer will be a very distant memory. bers of the Force. Copyright of all material is vested in UN publications, but may be repro-duced with the Editor’s permission. Contents Editorial . .2 Limnitis opening a step closer . .3 UNFICYP Photo Exhibition . .4-5 International Day of Peace . .6-7 VCCT first line of defence in HIV and AIDS response . .8-9 The Elders support Cyprus leaders - A more robust promotion of women’s rights . .10 Hello and Goodbye . .11 Blue Beret editor bids farewell . .12-13 Time to remember . .14 Medal Parade . .15 New Faces . .16 Slovak State Secretary visits UNFICYP . .17 Sector 2 round up - Out with the old in with the new . .18 Sport . .19 Front Cover: UNFICYP Helps sides build confidence Back Cover: UNFICYP Photo Exhibition 2 August/September - The Blue Beret BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:39 Page 3 Limnitis opening a step closer hen the Special Representative of the Sec- retary-General in Cyprus and head of WUNFICYP, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, announced last June that the leaders of Cyprus’s main communities had agreed to proceed with the opening of a crossing point at Limnitis/Yeşilırmak, it marked the end of a long wait for the residents of the area and undoubt- edly provided a boost to ongoing peace talks. Indeed, the question of the opening of a crossing point at Limnitis/ Yeşilırmak had been on the agenda for years, at some points nearly becom- ing a “confidence destroying measure” rather than helping build trust between the two sides. The crossing point in the northwest of the country was traditionally linked to the opening of Ledra Street in the heart of the country’s capital. When that historic event came to pass in April 2008, expectations were high that the Limnitis/ Yeşilırmak crossing point would soon follow. And hopes for a breakthrough were well founded. In the months weeks leading up to the Ledra open- ing (and subsequently), the two leaders clearly indicated that Limnitis/ Yeşilırmak was a priority. In joint statements issued on 21 March, 23 May and 25 July the leaders instructed their represen- tatives to take up the opening of Limnitis/Yeşilırmak “and other crossing points”. In the end it took some time to actually ink an agreement on the opening. The two leaders decided on 26 June that the crossing point would operate under the rules governing other crossings and underscored the role that UNFICYP would play. Things were made somewhat more compli- cated by the fact that the Limnitis/Yeşilırmak crossing also entailed arranging for crossing into nearby Erenköy/Kokkina, an area that is under military control. The leaders decided to solve the issue by requesting UNFICYP to escort persons wishing to visit that area. The detailed accord provides that visits “will be made by minibuses on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Turk- ish Cypriot side may request UNFICYP escort for one or two extra minibus(es) a week”. Still, the actual opening will have to wait until a considerable amount of work is completed on the ground. UNFICYP’s engineers set to work imme- diately after the agreement to conduct essential repairs and upkeep of the road through the cross- ing, but much more is needed. The United Nations Development Programme’s According to UNDP-PFF, the feasibility study of Partnership for the Future Programme, under the the project focuses on the investigation, assess- EU-funded “Aid Programme for the Turkish ment and survey needed to prepare the road Cypriot community”, has awarded a contract to a designs and the preparation of the tending docu- joint venture between Greek Cypriot and Turkish ments for the upgrading of the existing two Cypriot engineering companies to provide serv- sections of the road. The work will take eight ices for the “Survey, Investigation, Assessment weeks and result in the preparation of tender and Project Designs for the improvement of the documents for the construction of a better link- Kato Pyrgos/Asağı Pirgo –Limnitis/Yeşilırmak age between the two sections. Road”. The project involves the upgrading of the road, a section of 2.2 km located in the buffer So, the wait is not over for the people of the area. zone and another section of about 4.5 km located However, there is now for the first time actual in the northern part of the island. work to make what some had begun to call a pipe dream a reality. August/September - The Blue Beret 3 BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:39 Page 4 UNFICYP Pho NFICYP’s photographers down the years have captured for posterity the different aspects of the mission’s work. They have Udocumented its political efforts, but also the essential humanitarian role it has played in both communities. A selection of these photographs has been enlarged and prepared for an exhibition to be displayed in UNFICYP headquarters from October 2009, marking the nearly half a century it has been a force for peace in Cyprus. UNFICYP assists pilgrims on an annual Irish UNFICYP soldiers escort Turkish Cypriots celebration at the small chapel of Ayia Marina in on 24 April 1964 from an area in Famagusta the buffer zone village of Dherynia. that had been under fire. UNFICYP Finnish soldiers in May 1964 Bullet-riddled Cyprus Airways Trident passenger cycling to Nicosia from Dhekelia, plane, abandoned in 1974 at the old a distance of over 190 km. Nicosia International Airport. 4 August/September - The Blue Beret BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:39 Page 5 to Exhibition Peacekeepers talk to a resident of Asomatos village in the Karpas peninsula during a humanitarian visit. Special Representative of the Secretary-General A daily supply of water and food for the Taye-Brook Zerihoun receives Greek Cypriot leader Observation Post being loaded on a donkey at Demetris Christofias and his delegation Loutros village, Lefka District in April 1973. arriving for the Cyprus talks held in the UNPA. Canadian peacekeeper of Nicosia’s Sector 3 UN patrol base 18 in Sector 1, monitoring activities in the capital. overlooking Morphou Bay. August/September - The Blue Beret 5 BB Aug-Sept ersin09_Layout 1 22/10/2009 09:40 Page 6 International Day of Peace NFICYP observed International Day of Peace with Loizos Demetriou in his address stressed that the a candle vigil ceremony held in the buffer zone message of the Secretary-General on the Uarea outside Ledra Palace Hotel on 28 September International Day of Peace is a call to all nations 2009. Force Commander Rear Admiral Mario Sanchez and all people to cease all hostilities for the entire Debernardi addressed the event, which was attended day. To allow all those engaged in conflict to by Greek and Turkish Cypriot members of the World consider the wisdom of further violence. To give War II Veterans Association, members of the diplomatic time to world leaders to listen to their peoples. community and representatives of the two main Many of those peoples want an end to repression communities on the island. and intolerance. They want relief from poverty and “The International Day of Peace is an occasion to take despair. stock of efforts to promote peace and well being for all “The Cypriot veterans of the Second World War, people everywhere”.