Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman called for direct dialogue between the opposing security forces on the island to avoid tensions in the buffer zone like the recent incident in Mammari.
In a post on social media on Friday, Erhürman pointed to his 10-point package of proposals submitted in his first meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides on November 20. One of the proposals was “the establishment of a mechanism to enable direct dialogue between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot security forces,” he said, adding, “The aim was to ensure that contact could be established without delay in the event of any problems.”
The Turkish Cypriot leader argued that earlier this week Greek Cypriot farmers had violated the buffer zone and even went beyond it. He described President Nikos Christodoulides’ reaction to the incident as “unacceptable”.
“In the final days of 2025, violations carried out by Greek Cypriot farmers in the buffer zone – and even extending beyond it – caused tensions. The Greek Cypriot leadership immediately issued accusatory statements, using wording that was unacceptable,” said Erhürman.
Christodoulides accuses Turkish army of ‘piracy’
The incident in question took place on the outskirts of Nicosia in Mammari on December 29. Greek Cypriot farmers cultivating their fields along the Mammari buffer zone reported harassment and attacks by Turkish army soldiers and 'police', 300 meters from a Turkish outpost.
One eyewitness said they were pelted with stones, threatened and bullied in an attempt to get them off their tractors for arrest.
“The UN stood idly by” as Turkish soldiers warned them they would be arrested if they stayed, farmer Gavriel Gerolemou told Antenna TV.
In response, Christodoulides described the incident as very serious, noting the government had made representations to the UN.
“This piracy was a result of Turkish occupation army actions,” he said.
The president condemned the action as unacceptable, arguing that the “primary consideration was the safety of locals”.
Erhürman to Christodoulides: Mind your language
In his post, the Turkish Cypriot leader said he received reports on the matter and promptly opened channels of communication with UN officials after the incident.
“Our objective is to prevent the occurrence of such tension-escalating incidents. The way to achieve this is for the UN to fully and strictly implement all agreements and understandings reached to date, and for dialogue mechanisms to function effectively,” said Erhürman.
He called on both sides to engage in preventive measures and refrain from using incendiary language that raises tensions.
“In our view, the responsibility of the leaderships is to strengthen preventive dialogue mechanisms and to refrain from using language that poisons the atmosphere or making statements that escalate tensions,” he added.