Turkey’s Erdogan slams peacekeepers for blocking road project in Cyprus

Turkey’s president on Monday criticized UN peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in ethnically divided Cyprus, calling the action unacceptable and accusing the peacekeeping force of bias against Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not allow any unlawful behavior toward ethnic Turks on Cyprus, where his country maintains more than 35,000 troops in the Mediterranean island nation ‘s breakaway northern third.

Angry Turkish Cypriots last week punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers that blocked crews working on a road that would encroach on the island’s UN-controlled buffer zone.