U.N. Halts Turks’ Cyprus Maneuvers

The United Nations asked Turkish Cypriots to halt a military exercise near Nicosia as loud sounds and gunfire rattled nerves in the Greek Cypriot area south of the divided capital, and the Turks complied, the U.N. military spokesman said Monday.

“We have intervened. They were exercising too close to the Green Line (the line separating Greek and Turkish areas of Cyprus). It’s bad for the nerves,” Maj. Alex Twickel of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus told reporters.

Plumes of smoke were visible near the U.N.-patrolled Green Line as loud explosions and automatic weapons’ fire was heard across the city in mid-afternoon. The noise ceased after the U.N. intervention.