NICOSIA, April 15. /TASS/. Tensions are escalating in the Cyprus buffer zone controlled by the UN peacekeepers near the village of Pyla, Cyprus News Agency reports.

It said Turkey had sent 15 tanks to the area, moved several dozen plainclothes Turkish Cypriot police officers there, and erected a flag of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara. United Nations peacekeepers who patrol the neutral zone were subsequently reinforced, while the British military base in Dhekelia is deploying new forces to the zone of tensions.

Official representative of the UN peacekeeping forces in Cyprus Aleem Siddique told the Philelefteros newspaper that the tanks and the flag reported by the Cyprus News Agency were located outside the UN buffer zone.

Two days ago, the UN Mission in Cyprus said Turkish Cypriot security personnel had entered neutral territory without permission forcing the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) to increase its patrols on the plateau in the Pyla area.

On Wednesday, the United Nations mission in Cyprus said on X that UNFICYP is patrolling the area and continues to closely monitor the situation.

UN Secretary General's Special Representative and head of peacekeepers Khassim Diagne has called for calm and restraint in dialogue and respect for the UNFICYP mandate.