Turkey's foreign minister has accused the United Nations of abandoning its neutrality in Cyprus after the Security Council criticized construction work by Turkish Cypriots inside the buffer zone and condemned their assault on U.N. peacekeepers. The Security Council described the construction of a road as a violation of the status quo and a breach of council resolutions. Turkish Cypriots had punched and kicked international peacekeepers who blocked crews working on the road, which connects the village of Arsos in the Turkish Cypriot north with the multi-ethnic village of Pyla in the buffer zone.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry rejected the Security Council's condemnation, calling it divorced from the realities on the ground. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticized the peacekeepers' action, calling it unacceptable and biased against Turkish Cypriots. Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974, with a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south.

The U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP, has maintained a buffer zone between Turkish and Turkish Cypriot forces in the north and Greek Cypriot forces in the south. The Security Council welcomed the halt in construction and called for both sides to support efforts to negotiate mutually agreed development in the area.