UN urges rivals in Cyprus to de-escalate tensions and seize opportunity to restart negotiations

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for a year and urged all parties including rival Green Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to take steps “to de-escalate tensions in and around the buffer zone” dividing the Mediterranean island. The council also strongly encouraged all parties “to seize the opportunity” of the U.N. chiefs’ appointment of a new personal envoy to restart negotiations between the two sides. It stressed “that the status quo is unsustainable” and “furthers political tensions.”  Cyprus was divided into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south in 1974 following a Turkish invasion that was triggered by a coup aimed at union with Greece.