Pyle

Pyle/Pile is a village in Larnaca District, Cyprus. It is one of only four villages located within the United Nations Buffer Zone, the other three being Athienou, Troulloi and Deneia. Pyla is located in the eastern part of the island, adjacent to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. From a legal point of view, it is administered as all other areas controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, but policed by UN peacekeepers. I visited this village as part of the IBRG CYBEX-24 expedition.

The village is special in the respect that it is the only settlement in Cyprus still inhabited by both its original Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants. 850 of the inhabitants are Greek Cypriots and 487 are Turkish Cypriots. The village has three churches and one mosque. At the centre of the village there are several cafe’s on the main square and UN OP 129. There are 2 coffee shops, one for each community.

I last visited this place in 1999 and it was heavily policed by UN personnel (Australian Police Officers) and photography was impossible. On this occasion there were no restrictions at all.

Friendly relations exist between the 2 communities, however separate schools and other social institutions exist. I visited this point as part of the IBRG CYBEX-24

Tensions nevertheless exist, the opening of the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus) in Pyle was seen by the Turkish community as upsetting the demographic balance within the village. Recently the TRNC began building a road that would link the communities of Pyle and Arsos to facilitate a direct link to the north for Turkish Cypriots living in Pyle rather than them needing to go through the SBA controlled Pergamos crossing. Tensions increased and clashes occurred between UN (UK and Slovak personnel and TRNC construction workers) when the UN buffer zone was encroached upon. An agreement has been reached inclining the release of parcels of land for development and checkpoints to allow the road to be completed.

The Village

The centre of the village has a square with several restaurants, some Greek, others Turkish. There is a UN OP here. Marked as Area A on the map above

South and north registered cars parked together in the square.

A TRNC OP is clearly visible from the centre of the village.

A short distance walk from the square, a Greek Orthodox Church and Mosque clearly shows the mixed communities within Pyle.

SBA Border Markers

Driving north out of the village, the border between the UN buffer zone and the SBA is quickly reached. This is an interesting point with a marker, a divided house and views over the village. We met the owner of the divided house who explained to us what it was like to live in the village (and on the border).

BM#1

The markings on the pavement indicate the marker is incorrectly placed.

Looking up the hill towards the second BM. The house and the owners bedroom is divided by the border.

BM#2

After speaking to the home owner she pointed out our next 2 points to explore. firstly a border marker behind her home, which when aligned to the first border marker we saw clearly shows how the border cuts through her house and secondly a viewpoint on the ridge behind her home where there were several border markers.

The Viewpoint

Right on the border between the UN buffer Zone and the SBA (east) there is an observation post which gives great views over the village and also several close by border markers.