February/March - Blue Beret February/March 2010The UNFICYP Magazine

The Blue Beret

Secretary-General visitsto boost peace efforts

February/March - Blue Beret 32 February/March - Blue Beret

The Blue Beret is UNFICYP’s in-house journal. Views expressed are of the authors concerned, and do not necessarily

conform with official policy. Articles of general interest (plus photos with captions) are invited from all members of the Force

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Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Road safety campaign with Highgate multinational school . . . .4

UNFICYP marks International Women’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . .6/7

Secretary-General visit’s to boost peace process . . . . . . . .8/11

UN family honours Haiti victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Funds raised for Haiti effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

UNFICYP medal parades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14/15

Rotations/Good neighbourly relations and understandingawardfor Sector 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

New Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Aviation emergency response excercise / Visits . . . . . . . . . .18

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

UNPOL’s very own hero / World Water Day: Clean water for ahealthy world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

The Blue Beret

Published monthly by the:Public Information Office United Nations Force in Cyprus

HQ UNFICYPPO Box 216421590 NicosiaCyprus

Editorial Team

José DíazNetha KreouzosErsin ÖztoycanRolando GomezSSgt. Pavol Kubis (Photographer)Capt. Tomas Daño

Editorial

Unit Press Officers

Sector 1 Capt. Hugo Gomez Sector 2 Capt. Lucy ReynoldsSector 4 1 Lt. Peter MelnikMFR Maj. Mick NicholUNPOL Cmdr. Phil SpenceUN Flt Lt. Marcelo TuyaretFMPU Capt. Jozef Bolecek

st

Contents

Spring is already much in evidence in Cyprus,especially in the largely untouched area thebuffer zone occupies. The still-crisp morning

air is thick with the fragrance of blossoming treesand shrubs, and lush greens and yellows enliven thelandscape. The sense of renewal that comes withthe season also extends to other spheres.

In UNFICYP, for example, we are in the middleof rotation – new soldiers from Argentina, theUnited Kingdom, Slovakia, Hungary and a handful ofother countries – are arriving to take over for theircomrades.

Meanwhile, the re-launched peace process theUN has been facilitating for the last 18 months hasjust received another boost with the impending be-ginning of work to open another crossing point,specifically the opening of Limnitis/Yesilirmak on thenorthwest of the island.

The Limnitis/Yesilirmak crossing point has beena long time in coming: the leaders formally agreedto its opening in June 2009, and the project was

discussed during a fair amount of time before that.On 24 March, a contract to build the road that will

allow civilian traffic to flow again in that part ofCyprus was finally signed. Chief of MissionTayé -Brook Zerihoun welcomed the development,calling it “further tangible evidence that when thereis a will, even what seem to be the most intractableproblems can be solved”.

The Chief of Mission was in essence echoing whatthe Secretary-General said earlier this year duringhis visit to Cyprus, which we cover in this issue.

Ban Ki-moon put it very simply when he said hewas under no illusions that the Cyprus problem waseasy to solve. But he added he was confident that“a solution is possible and within reach”.

That sentiment is sure to be on the minds ofmany of those who will witness the ceremony on 29March marking the beginning of work at Limnitis/Yesilirmak, on what promises to be a beautiful springday in Cyprus.

Preparatory work at Limnitis

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UNPOL’s very own hero

UNFICYP’s Force Military Police Unit (FMPU) helpskeep the roads safe within the UNPA, but it alsoshares its expertise with the wider community.

A case in point is the unit’s work on road safety withHighgate Primary School in Nicosia. The multi-nationalschool is attended by Greek and Turkish Cypriotchildren as well as children of families from the UN.

Members of the FMPU were invited on 24 Februaryto give the children and teachers a presentation onvarious road safety issues, including the dangersassociated with driving whilst using a mobile phone,speeding, seat belts and being aware when drivingthrough populated areas.

The children were then asked to participate in anart competition, based on the various themes of roadsafety discussed in the presentation.

The campaign was met with great enthusiasm bythe school. Deputy head teacher Susan Connollyarranged for the children to produce the pictures priorto their midterm break. On 23 February 2010 a smalljudging panel, consisting of the FPM, Maj RussellFoulcer, the FMPU CSM, WO2 Alasdair MacDonald,

Susan Connolly, and Highgate teachers Mary Satsiasand Patricia Stephanou chose the competitionwinners.

The pictures were excellent – even the ones withtraces of chocolate on them -- and demonstrated thatthe essence of the message given at the earlierpresentation by the FMPU had been understood.

The five winning budding artists received prizes inthe form of vouchers for a local educational store andthe promise that they would be invited to see theirpaintings on the UNPA, once they have been trans-ferred to road signs and placed in situ. It is proposedthat the signs be erected in areas that are frequentedby some of the children from the school and theirfamilies through the summer, such as the footballpitches, swimming pool, ERMES road and the marriedquarters area.

The FMPU look forward to continuing its work withHighgate and hope that cycling proficiency classes canbe run on the UNPA over the summer break to furtherpromote road awareness and safety amongst thepupils.

Road safety campaign withHighgate multinationalschool

1st Place

Sila Tokar (Year 4)

Liza Osanai(Year 6)

2nd Place

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Runner

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Laura

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Runner

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Tam

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The work of UNFICYP’s police unit, UNPOL,consists primarily of maintaining andrestoring law and order in the buffer zone and

supporting the military and civil affairs branches.It does not traditionally include life-saving

rescues, a detail that happily did not preventItalian UNPOL officer Domenico Pastore fromacting heroically last summer.

On 4 July 2009 Pastore was enjoying off-dutytime with his family at Pyla beach. He suddenlynoticed a woman and a man struggling to swim indeep water off shore. The man seemed to be inparticular difficulty.

Without hesitating Pastore swam out to rescuethe couple. The woman was able to swim to shorewhen Officer Pastore reached them, but the manwas struggling to stay above the water. Pastoregrabbed the drowning man by the arm but waspulled under for a time by the man who at thistime was semi conscious.

With great effort and risk to his own lifePastore succeeded in bringing the drowning manto a point where he could touch bottom; a lifeguard then came to assist.

The small crowd that had gathered on thebeach by that time congratulated the UNPOLOfficer for his bravery. The man who was rescuedidentified himself as Marios, a 35-year-old Cypriot.He and his his family thanked Officer Pastore forsaving his life.

Pastore is from Italy and is on a one year tourof duty with UNFICYP. He is presently attached toSCAT at the United Nations Police Station in Pyla.

World Water Day: Clean water for a healthy world

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon challengedworld leaders to ensure that all people haveaccess to safe drinking water, saying more

people die from unsafe water than from all formsof violence, including war."Clean water has become scarce and will becomeeven scarcer with the onset of climate change,"the Secretary-General warned in a message onWorld Water Day, 22 March 2010.The theme of this year’s World Water Day, “CleanWater for a Healthy World”, emphasizes that boththe quality and the quantity of water resourcesare at risk. “More people die from unsafe water than from allforms of violence, including war. These deathsare an affront to our common humanity, and un-dermine the efforts of many countries to achievetheir development potential,” the Secretary-Gen-eral said.Every day, millions of tons of untreated sewageand industrial and agricultural waste are pouredinto the world's water systems, and it is the poorwho "continue to suffer first and most from pol-

lution, water shortages and the lack of adequatesanitation," he said.A report by the U.N. Environment Programme es-timates 2 billion tons of waste water dischargeddaily into the world’s water systems spreadingdisease and damaging ecosystems.At least 1.8 million children under the age of fivedie every year from water-related diseases, orone every 20 seconds, the report said, and overhalf the world's hospital beds are occupied withpeople suffering from illnesses linked to contam-inated water.The Secretary-General described the deaths as"an affront to our common humanity."World leaders have the "know-how to solve thesechallenges and become better stewards of ourwater resources," Ban said, and he challengedthem to act ahead of a high-level General As-sembly meeting in September to assess progresstoward meeting the U.N. Millennium DevelopmentGoals to reduce global poverty by the target dateof 2015.

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UNFICYP marks International Women’s Day

Senior Police Adviser honours UNPOL women

UFICYPstaff markedI n t e r n a t i o n a lWomen’s Day 2010

with a reminder that thesignificant progress madecannot obscure the obsta-cles women still face inrealizing their rights andfull potential.

During the commem-oration, -Chief of MissionTayé-Brook Zerihoun readout the Secretary-Gen-eral’s message on the oc-casion, stressing that thefight for women’s rights iscentral to the UN’s globalmission.

The Secretary-Gen-eral pointed out that fif-teen years ago, in Beijing,Governments committedthemselves to equality,development and peace

for all women, in all countries. The Beijing Declarationwas a landmark on the road to women’s empower-ment, he said but “much work remains” to be done.

“Death in childbirth is still too common. Too fewwomen have access to family planning. Violenceagainst women remains a cause of global shame, andsexual violence in war is endemic,” the Secretary-General said.

Referring to the United Nations itself, the Secre-tary-General said, “We have more women in seniorposts than at any time in history.”In conclusion the Secretary-General said, “Securingwomen’s rights is central to all our hopes for peace,

security and sustainable development.”UNFICYP Focal Points for Women, Renalyn Natural

and Athena Georgiou, who organized the event,recalled that on 8 March across continents and coun-tries, men and women of different cultures, religionsand histories come together to demonstrate solidar-ity. Referring to her life as a peacekeeper, Renalyn, whohas also served in East Timor and Sudan, said shearrived in UNFICYP as she was expecting her secondchild and with a toddler in hand. Many thought that asa woman, she would break but her resolve and beliefin family kept her strong, and able to contribute ef-fectively as a peacekeeper.

“Women often have to make difficult choices”, shesaid. “Sometimes these are choices that men do nothave to make. Yet we make them because we must,”she said adding that women’s fight for equality andrespect is not only part of history. “We have to realizethat history is being written every minute and everysingle day,” she said.

As Focal Point for Women, Renalyn said she andAthena aim to support UNFICYP in reaching gendertargets and ensuring a gender-sensitive environmentis maintained.

As part of the day’s events staff enjoyed an inter-active demonstration of self-defence from the PilavakisTaekwondo School and a brief introduction to yoga,massage and meditation led by Daniel Dimitrova.

The day’s events ended with a session of “laughteryoga”, a combination of laughter exercises with yogabreathing intended to bring in more oxygen to thebody and brain, “making one feel more energetic andhealthy", according to instructor Elina Papa. Homebaked cakes and raffle tickets were also sold with theproceeds donated to Cypriot charities supportingwomen.

The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) isthe largest global effort to endviolence against women. In over

fifty-five countries, campaigns are ledby both men and women who wear thewhite ribbon as a personal pledge to nevercommit, condone or remain silent aboutviolence against women and girls. Wear-ing a white ribbon is a way of saying,“Our future has no violence againstwomen.”

Focal Point for Women Renalyn Natural pins a whiteribbon on the Force Commander

Instructor Elina Papa leads staff in a session oflaughter yoga.

Members of the Pilavakis Taekwondo School give an interactive demonstration of self-defence

Staff participate in yoga relaxation exercises withinstructor Daniel Dimitrova.

Chief Superintendent John Farrelly hosted all his female UN Police Staff for breakfast at the UNPA InternationalCafeteria, on International Women's Day, 8th March. The ladies came in from HQ and the outlying UNPOL Stationsacross the island and enjoyed a great start to the day. As the photo shows, the Senior Police Adviser was in his

element, surrounded by such a cheerful and appreciative bevy of lovely ladies!

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Secretary-General visit’ s to boost peace process

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Cyprusfrom 31 January to 2 February to show his sup-port for the leaders’ reunification efforts.

The Secretary-General met with DemetrisChristofias and Mehmet Ali Talat individually and jointlyon 1 February.

He also held discussions with his Special AdviserAlexander Downer and addressed the UN team in thecountry.

UNFICYP staff had the opportunity to see theSecretary-General at a Town Hall meeting where hespoke about developments within the Organization andhis plans for the improvement of working conditions forall staff. During the visit, the Secretary-General and hiswife were conducted on a walking tour of the GreenLine section of the buffer zone.

The visit, Mr Ban’s first to Cyprus, was the sixth by

a Secretary-General, following Kurt Waldheim in1972,1973,1974 and Kofi Annan in May 2002 andFebruary 2003.On arrival in Cyprus the Secretary-General said his visitwas a reflection of the importance he attached to thecurrent efforts of the Cyprus leaders.

He said that: “For over 45 years, the United Nationshas been in Cyprus helping to keep the peace andcontributing to the efforts to bring about normal condi-tions on the island. Therefore he said he was under noillusions that the Cyprus problem is easy to solve, orabout the difficulties that had to be faced.”At the same time, however, he said he was “confidentthat a solution is possible and within reach.”“I am impressed by the enormous personal commit-ment shown by both leaders over the past 16 months.They have invested great time and energy in this peaceprocess. I am pleased by the significant progress thathas been achieved recently on governance and power-sharing. The leadership that their ExcellenciesChristofias and Talat have demonstrated at this keymoment is to be commended.”

The secretary-General said he was in Cyprus toencourage the two leaders to bring these talks to asuccessful conclusion. “Reaching a mutually acceptablesolution will require courage, flexibility and vision, aswell as a spirit of compromise,” he said.

The Secretary-General stressed that the talksprocess belongs to Cyprus. “The United Nations is hereat the invitation of both sides to assist. Your destiny isin your hands. You have taken responsibility for findinga solution. You are the ones driving the process and theones who will benefit from the tremendous benefits and

opportunities a settlement would bring to this island.”He noted that the expectations of the international

community are very high and the importance of asolution not only to Cyprus but the wider region andthe world should not be underestimated. “Solving theCyprus problem will give inspiration to all those aroundthe world trying to solve other seemingly intractableconflicts,” he said. Following a visit to the Ledra-Lok-maci Street crossing, the Secretary-General had theopportunity to meet the two leaders separately andjointly.

During a press conference with the two leaders theSecretary-General paid tribute to the two leaders for“their strong commitment and resolve.” He said he hadcome to Cyprus to show his personal support to theCypriot-led and –owned process to reunify the island. “Iwanted to be here now because I recognize how im-portant it is to continue to build momentum on whatthe leaders have achieved up to now,” the Secretary-General said.

He pointed out that his visit had been “productiveand constructive”, adding that the world is watching.

“Today the world is seeing two leaders who are rising tothe challenge.”

“Cyprus needs commitment, vision, and flexibility,”and that he had seen that with the two leaders strivingto forge a better future for the people”, he said.“I am encouraged that the two leaders personallyassured me of their shared commitment to a compre-hensive solution as early as possible. We will need evenmore courage and determination in the period aheadto bring these talks to a successful conclusion. No oneis under the illusion that any of this is easy. Peacenegotiations never are. But the time is ripe to pushahead. I am convinced that these two leaders canachieve a mutually beneficial solution. For decades, theworld has heard about the Cyprus problem. Now is thetime for the Cyprus solution.”

The Secretary-General said the United Nations willcontinue to provide all the support it can but noted thatthis is a process that is by the people of Cyprus, and forthe people of Cyprus. “I carry the world’s support forCyprus in my heart. But the future of Cyprus is in yourhands,” he said.

The Force Commander guidesthe Secretary-General on a tourof the Green Line.

The Secretary-General in a meetingwith the UN Country Team in Cyprus

The Secretary-General addresses staffat a town hall meeting

The Secretary-General withthe Chief of Mission view amap of the Nicosia bufferzone.

Mrs Ban with the Cyprus leaders wives, ElsiChristofias (centre) and Oya Talat.

The Secretary-General at a meeting with TurkishCypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat Talat.

The Secretary-General at a meetingwith Greek Cypriot leader DemetrisChristofias.

The Secretary-General flanked bymembers of the Committee on MissingPersons Gulden Plumer Kucuk (left)and Elias Georgiades.

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Secretary-General’s visit (continued)

During his visit the Secretary-Generalattended the inauguration ceremony for theLedra- Lokmaci Street stabilization work.

The Secretary-General said he was pleasedthat after a long interval following the opening ofthe crossing, work on the façade of the buildingscould now continue.

“I look forward to the day when the whole areawill be opened and restored so that inhabitants ofNicosia can again enjoy this area as a busy centre

of daily life”, he said. “This crossing has become thesymbol of the two leaders to heal divisions and towork together towards a common future”.

“My personal reflection as a citizen of Korea, Iam coming from a country where it is still dividedbetween the south and north, I have seen formyself the very sad reality, the emptiness anddestructions and such very painful feelings I sharewith the people of Cyprus”.

The Secretary-General read out a joint statementon behalf of the two leaders which read asfollows: “We, as the two leaders, express our

gratitude for the visit of the United NationsSecretary General to Cyprus, which demonstrates thecontinued interest of the United Nations and theinternational community for a comprehensivesettlement of theCyprus problemunder the SecretaryGeneral’s GoodOffices Mission.

Taking this oppor-tunity, we express ourappreciation to theSecretary Generalfor his Good OfficesMission as approvedby the SecurityCouncil and for theefforts aimed at find-ing a mutually agreedsolution.

Working groupscomprising Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriot havedevoted time and effort to thoroughly discuss allaspects of the Cyprus problem. We ourselves,together with our Advisors and our teams, havebeen working diligently for more than a year on allChapters of the Cyprus problem. We have worked onthe basis of the integrated whole approach thatis “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”.

Good convergence has already been achieved in someChapters. For the rest, we are determined to workhard to achieve the desired progress.

Over the last three weeks we have worked hardduring our intensified negotiations, mainly on theChapter of Governance and Power Sharing andachieved important progress.

We express ourstrong commitmentto continue to workon this and the restof the Chapters. Weexpress our confi-dence that withgood will anddetermination, wecan achieve asolution in the short-est possible time. Itis our commonconviction that theCyprus problem hasr e m a i n e dunresolved for too

long. We are also aware that time is not on the sideof settlement. There is an important opportunitynow to find a solution to the Cyprus problem whichwould take into full consideration the legitimate rightsand concerns of both Greek Cypriots and TurkishCypriots. We are aware that such a settlement is inthe interest of all and that it will finally bring peace,stability and prosperity to our common home Cyprus.”

The Secretary-General and the representatives of the Cyprus leaders at the launch of the Ledra Streetstabilization works.

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UN family honours Haiti victims Funds raised for Haiti effort

The UN family in Cyprus held a memorial serviceon 11 February 2010 in honour of colleagues whodied in the devastating 7.0 magnitude earth-

quake that struck Haiti on 12 January.Special Representative of the Secretary-General andChief of Mission Tayé-Brook Zerihoun told the service:“It is hard to describe the suffering inflicted by theearthquake in less than 60 seconds. Numbers losemeaning: some 230,000 lives lost, over 300,000 in-jured and an estimated 1.5 million others inter-nally displaced, with more than half of them in need ofemergency assistance. The real damage – physicaland psychological – and its after effects areyet to be understood and assessed.“We, the United Nations are joined in grief with thepeople of Haiti. We too mourn a great and unprece-dented loss, the greatest single tragedy in the historyof our Organization.” A total of 101 UN person-

Zerihoun noted that it is often easier to accept and livewith the consequences of such disasters than to un-derstand and rationalize why they happened tosuch devastating end. He said he too had friends andcolleagues among the UN staff that perished in theearthquake. “A few were close colleagues, incred-ibly dedicated and talented individuals with whom Ihad worked closely for two or three decades. I maybe resigned to their loss, but I remain troubled by theterrible coincidence of the tragedy and, despite mybest efforts, will feel the void for some time to come.” “As colleagues, the best tribute we can pay to them

and their memory is to rededicate ourselves to thevery best ideals and principles of the United Nationsand to the many noble causes it has embarked uponin Haiti and elsewhere in the world.”Special Adviser of the Secretary-General AlexanderDowner also addressed the ceremony, pointing outthat the United Nations is built on great ideals.“[A]nd while sometimes it may not succeed in livingup to those ideals, so many people who come to workfor the United Nations do so because they believein those ideals”, he said.“The ideals of humanity, of caring for humanity, ofassisting humanity of reaching out to people in needand that’s what those people working for the UnitedNations in Haiti were doing,” Downer continued. Downer said that what is important to remember is,“that for those who died and those who were injured,they were there for the greatest of ideals and to carefor the people of Haiti and to assist those people tobuild a better life. Let us remember that those peo-ple, who did die, suffered in the cause of helping oth-ers. They did not suffer; they did not die in vainThe names of the UN personnel who died in the earth-quake were read out by Zerihoun, the Chairperson ofNational Staff Union Ersin Öztoycan, the Chairpersonof the Field Staff Union Thomas Grasberger, and mil-itary and UNPOL representatives.The Special Representative, the Special Adviser theForce Commander, the Senior Police Adviser and theofficer in charge of Mission Support also laid a wreathin memory of the victims.

As we watched the terrible scenes unfold following thecatastrophic earthquake in Haiti, we wanted to dosomething significant to help but felt powerless.

But one day, over a cup of coffee, a number of us cameup with an idea that would enable UNFICYP to make itsown contribution: a 24 hour rowing, cycling and runningcharity event for Haiti.

The target was to cover 649 kms – the length of theCyprus coastline -- in 24 hours from noon on 11 Februaryto noon on 12 February 2010 at St. Michaels Gym, UNPA.

With posters put up calling for participants, sponsor-ship money and volunteers the preparations wereunderway. The response was immediate: there was noshortage of help from all sections of UNFICYP.

Colleagues were willing to help provide everythingneeded to run a successful event, not least the tworowing machines, two treadmills and two cycles central tothe whole occasion. Volunteers came forward to keep theevent going for 24 hours and the time slots started to fillup. Everything was ready to go when the first eagerathletes arrived. Cue the music and let the race begin!

The main organiser, WO2 Dusty Coleman, and GardaGary Martin monitored the smooth running of the eventthroughout the 24 hours; they also found time to run andcycle. Enthusiastic participants worked the machinescontinuously, with most people covering longer distancesthan they had originally set out to achieve.

Mel Anderson and Christine Iacovou ran the refresh-ment table throughout the event, offering hot and colddrinks, chocolate, crisps, energy drinks and freshly bakedcakes and sandwiches that people had contributed in ex-change for donations, raising €558.27 over the two days.

By 8 the first evening, it was with disbelief that werealised we had already reached our original goal; thetarget was therefore doubled to 1,298 kms. During thelong night people arrived to add their distances whilewatching films on the big screen.

The highlights only served to increase the fantasticatmosphere with extraordinary performances frompeople like Max Dyck who arrived at the gym at 11pm andleft at 4am having covered 83 kms on all three machines;Phil Spense brought his own bike, set it up on a stand andcovered 62 kms in total. Donna Bramham ran on the

treadmill and raised €620. Children came to the gym afterschool and eagerly took turns on the treadmill; ‘TeamSupply’ ran for Haiti in their team shirts and multicolouredwigs.

Soldiers from Sector 1 and Sector 4 arrived inminibuses from their camps to take part and add theirsponsorship money. Unexpected donations continued topour in over the 24 hours; €100 from one source, €300from another and €500 collected during the recent UNPOLmugout.

People arrived to support the last hour after amessage was sent out to ‘Dance for Half an Hour for Haiti’and taken up by belly dancers and closet disco dancersraising over €130. Members of the senior managementtook their turn on the machines with the Chief of Missionand the Force Commander the last two over the finish line.

The final distance covered was an incredible 1,369kms, more than double the original target.

Following the event, Chief of Mission Taye BrookeZerihoun signed the cheque for €5,606.05 to be paid intothe UN’s Central Emergency Relief Response Fund Haiti

By Christine Iacovou

WO2 Dusty Coleman and Garda Gary Martin

February/March - Blue Beret 1514 February/March - Blue Beret

Three medal parades were held in the last twomonths to pay tribute to the peacekeepersfrom all sectors and contingents who had

served in Cyprus over the previous six months. The2010 Winter Medal Parade, the largest of thethree, was held on 28 January in the area of oldNicosia airport. The Mobile Force Reserve peace-keepers were decorated at a second parade, heldon 25 February, in the UN Flight hangar. It was thefirst time in the history of the MFR where all 96peacekeepers from Argentina, Hungary, Slovakiaand the United Kingdom were decorated withUN medals collectively. The Force Commander in-

spected the parade and presented the peacekeep-ers their medals together with Chief of Staff Col.Gerard Hughes and Chief Operations Officer Lt.Col. Ricardo Daniel Beldi.

Sector 1(west of Nicosia) held its medal paradeon 23 February in San Martin camp. On that occa-sion soldiers from the Argentinean contingent – andassociated peacekeepers from Brazil, Chile andParaguay received their medals.

Post-medal celebrations followed with the threesectors putting on traditional food and drinks fromtheir home countries.

Special Representative of the Secretary Generaland Chief of Mission Tayé-Brook Zerihounaddressed the UNFICYP Winter medal parade on

28 January 2010, saying that although there isrelative calm and stability in Cyprus, the troublingfacts of the island’s history cannot be ignored “Theisland is prosperous, with scenic landscapes andfriendly people. It is easy enough to feel a sense ofsecurity here, to avert one’s eyes from the obviousand enduring division. The reality, however, will notallow us to look away from the troubling facts of theisland’s history, or from the still open wounds inheritedfrom the not so distant and tragic past.”

Zerihoun stressed that Cyprus is at a historic cross-roads where the leaders of Cyprus have anunprecedented opportunity today to embark on a pathof reunification and healing that should unlock thetremendous energy, ingenuity and potential of Greekand Turkish Cypriots towards a more stable,prosperous and bright future together.

“The weight of history is great”, he said. “We mustnot underestimate how the suffering and animositiesthat marked previous generations have shapedattitudes and behavior today. But that record oughtnot to be allowed to continue to compromise thefuture.”

The Chief of Mission stressed that the UnitedNations will be steadfast in its support and assistanceto the leaders and their communities as they work tobridge the distance between them. “Ours is asupporting role, not a starring one, and we shall play

it as long as there isan evident will to closethe division betweenthe two communitiesthat would otherwisethreaten to growwider over time,” hesaid.

Referring to thep e a c e k e e p e r sreceiving medals,Zerihoun said theyplay a “pivotal role inthe overall UnitedNations support andfacilitation of the talksbetween Greek andTurkish Cypriots”.

“The work of ourp e a c e k e e p e r simproves the environ-ment in which negotiations can take place: broadlyby contributing to stability; and specifically byensuring that all practical arrangements – fromsecurity to logistics to facilitating media coverage –are made with the utmost of professionalism.”

Awarding them the United Nations PeacekeepingMedal in the name of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,Zerihoun said: “They have worked hard to earn it andI commend them for a job well done.”

UNFICYP Medal ParadesZerihoun:Despite calm, troubling facts of island’shistory cannot be ignored

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Rotations New FacesHand-over ceremonies were held in Sector 1 and

Sector 4 as the troops who had completed theirsix-month tours of duty rotated out and were

replaced by newly-arrived troops.In Sector 4 the last line-up of the Slovak,

Hungarian and Croatian troops rotating out was heldon 15 March under current Commanding Officer Lt ColĽubomír Kochanský. The Commanding Officerpresented the outgoing peacekeepers with a commem-orative plaque of their tour of duty in Cyprus, whileindividual contingent commanders gave them personalgifts. In Sector 1 the exchange of duties between theArgentinean Task Force (ATF) 34 and ATF 35 too place

on 12 March. Commanding Officer Lieutenant ColonelCarlos Maria Michel appointed the new officer-in-chargeof the national flag and his escort.

The present Task Force is drawn from theArgentinean Army, Navy and Air Force and includespersonnel from Chile, Paraguay and Brazil.

The incoming personnel were divided between SanMartin and Roca Camps. This was followed by amilitary parade after which the outgoing and incomingpeacekeepers had the opportunity to enjoy a traditionalArgentinean meal of “empanadas”, “cazuela de pollo”and Argentinean wine.

The Slovak and Hungarian contingents ofUNFICYP were presented with the awardfor “Good neighbourly relations and under-

standing,” by the Hungarian Foreign MinisterPéter Balázs and his Slovak counterpart MiroslavLajcák on 2 March 2010. The award, established and presented jointly bythe two Foreign Ministers, is to acknowledge themerits of a Hungarian and Slovak individual ororganisation that has made a considerable con-tribution towards the development of Hungar-ian-Slovak relations, as well as to strengthenmutual understanding and respect between thetwo nations.This year the Foreign Ministers presented theaward to the Slovak Mountain Rescue Serviceand the UNFICYP Hungarian-Slovak joint militarycontingent, with the conviction that the award

will be in good hands and will properly representmutual understanding between the two nations.In 2001 Slovakia took over the lead nation roleand command in the joint UNFICYP sector. AMemorandum of Understanding and a technicalsupplement regulate the implementation oftasks in the joint unit. Cooperation between thetwo contingents is exemplary and contributes topeacekeeping and the hoped-for reunification ofthe island.“One point of connection between the awardeesis a deep, sincere and committed respect ofhuman values – not without sacrifice – in orderto protect peace and preserve human life”’ thetwo Foreign Ministers stressed. “All these meritsare worthy not only of acknowledgement but ofrecognition for providing a bond between ourcountries and citizens”.

“Good neighbourly relations and understanding” award for Sector 4

Capitan de Fragata (Lt. Col) Marcelo Paredes joined UNFICYP in Februarytaking up the post of Force Signal Officer. He was born in Buenos Aires,Argentina, on March 1965 and studied in Euskal - Echea Institute for 13

years. He joined the Navy in 1984 and graduated on board tall ship “Libertad” in1989. He completed the Signal Officer Course in 1991 and became a Navy Diver in1992. In 2006 he was in the Naval War College and one year later he was desig-nated Commanding Officer of an Auxiliary Ship ARA “TENIENTE OLIVIERI”. In 2008he completed his course in the Armed Forces Joint War College. In 2009 he was theexecutive Officer of ARA “PARKER” a Meko 140 Class Frigate. During his career, hewas served in different ships of the Argentinean Fleet and was observer in foreignernavy ships. He served in Antarctica and in different parts of the country asEnvironmental Protection Officer of the Navy. Lt Col Marcelo Paredes is married to Susana and they havethree children: Matias (14), Facundo (11) and Julieta (8) who are here in Cyprus with him. He likes Cyprus,its nature, history and people of the Island. He also likes sailing and diving.

Lt Col Daniel Fernando Caceres arrived in UNFICYP on 6 March 2010 to take upthe post of sector 1 deputy Commanding Officer. He was born in Buenos Aires,Argentina on 26 September 1966 and graduated from the Argentinean

Military Academy in 1987with a degree in Strategy and Organization, and also holdsthe Special Aptitude “Airborne Troops”. During his career he has served in anumber of different appointments: Airborne Platoon Leader, Military Academyinstructor, Airborne Company Commander, Infantry Mechanized Regiment DeputyCommanding Officer. His last appointment was in the Operations Branch of the 4thAirborne Brigade Headquarters. This is third tour of duty with UNFICYP havingserved in 1998 as SECTOR 1 ALFA Company Commander (Roca Camp) and in 2007as Sector 1 Operations Officer. He is married to Monica Teresita Comba and they

have four children: Maria Florencia (14), Maria Carolina (11), Matias Daniel and Jose Ignacio (4 year oldtwins). His interests include diving, parachuting, skiing and mountain biking.

Maj. Dr. Géza Dancsó took over the post of Force Hygiene Officer on 17 March2010. Born on 17 November 1969 in Szentes, southeast Hungary, hegraduated from the University of Szeged in 1997 as a general practitioner.

Maj. Dancsó worked for a period of 8 years as an ENT (ear, nose and throat)specialist in the Szentes Hospital before joining the Hungarian Defence Forces in2004 as a Captain and served in Szentes as a physician. He currently holds the postof occupational physician of the HDF 37th “Ferenc Rákóczi II.” EngineeringBattalion. This is his second tour of duty as a peacekeeper having previouslyserved in 2008-2009 as a physician in KFOR (Kosovo-Pech). He is married to Dóraand they have a son, Péter (2) and a daughter, Eszter (4). His interests includeswimming, skiing and football.

MSgt Gabriel Zelei arrived in Cyprus on 17 March 2010, taking up the positionof UNFICYP Force Photographer. This is his first UN mission, but secondoverseas mission having served in 2006 -2007 in the NATO mission – Iraqi

Freedom as a Signal officer in the Slovak Engineer Unit at camp ECHO near AdDyvaniyah, Iraq. MSgt Zelei was born in 1979 in the town of Cadca in Slovakia. Aftergraduating from military college Liptovsky Mikulas he joined the Slovak Army inPresov as an electronic warfare NCO. In 2000 he attended the Military Academy forstudies in electronic warfare, and graduated in 2005. After his studies he changedprofession and went to work for the Nuclear Biological Chemical Centre of the LandForces HQ and deployed to Iraq where he was promoted to Chief of the TacticalPsychological Operations team of the Land Forces of the Slovak Army. He enjoys

playing tennis and watching movies.

Force Signal Officer

Sector 1 Deputy Commanding Officer

Force Hygiene Officer

Force Photographer

February/March - Blue Beret 1918 February/March - Blue Beret

An accident involving a UNFICYP aircraft mightoccur any time when air operations are under-way. In order to minimize the adverse effects

of such an occurrence, a coordinated response basedupon a well prepared, tested and updated MissionAviation Emergency Response Plan (AERP), is neces-sary. To accomplish the above a full Aviation Emer-gency Response Exercise was held on 17 February2010.The exercise scenario involved a Hughes 500-D hel-icopter that was making a routine observation flight.A few minutes after take-off, the Flight Following wasinformed of ‘some trouble’ with the helicopter andthereafter all radio contact was lost. One crew mem-ber was suspected dead and another passenger wasalso believed to have been killed. The helicopter wason fire in the buffer zone close to old Nicosia airport.The Response Team Leader went into action in orderto gain control over the situation. The Medical Cen-tre’s ambulance was sent to the scene of the crash

while personnel from the MFR had been deployed toestablish a perimeter of security, cordoning off thearea. The accident site was close to electric lines,the supply had to be turned off. Also, a mine fieldwas simulated in the vicinity. The Medical Unit, FireServices, Mobile Force Reserve, Military Police, Op-eration Branch, UNFlight and Air Safety Office wereworking together to bring the situation under con-trol. The fire was extinguished with the use of foamand powder. Then the rescue of the injured was un-dertaken by the mission medical component whichprovided immediate relief to the injured;one casu-alty was transferred on a Bell 212 helicopter toNicosia General Hospital. The exercise was a goodopportunity for all personnel to familiarize them-selves with their responsibilities in an emergency sit-uation and ensure they are well-trained to cope withsuch an eventuality.

Aviation Emergency Response Exercise

Visits

This February saw Sector 2’s turn tohost the UNFICYP Inter-Unit SportingContest, with an extremely original

Mini Olympics event held at the DhekeliaGarrison Sports Area.

Led by personnel from the sector’s 27Regiment The Royal Logistic Corps, SSgtRitson and Senior Instructor of theregiments’ Adventure Training Team SgtBabbington, the three sectors of UNFICYP,and the Mobile Force Reserve raced, threwand jumped their way through the day.

Glorious sunshine prevailed, althoughhigh winds did threaten the VIP tent at first!The British teams dominated the events, butSector 4 gave strong competition in theShot Put and Javelin, with Sector 1 enteringa speedy team of sprinters to the 100m,400, and 1500m races. The most nail bitingevent of the day was the 400 metre Chain ofCommand relay. Cheered on by fellowSector Commanders and the ForceCommander, Sector 2 Commanding Officer,Lt Col David Albon, raced for his team. Withthe MFR comfortably in first place, Sector 2

athlete Sgt Castle put rivalteams under immense pres-sure as he flew around thetrack putting his sector intosecond place and catchingup fast. Fellow athleteswent berserk as Pte Jacksonthen raced up behindMFR Sergeant Major, WO2Pierce. But the MFR had it inthe bag, crossing the finishline just metres ahead,crowning them Olympicchampions.

National Anthems and a welcome speechby Capt Reynolds, in the four languagesrepresented, preceded the prize givingceremony, before a well deserved barbecueconcluded a thoroughly successful andsporting day.

L J REYNOLDSCapt

S2 Visits Officer

Sports

ASector 4 tennis competition took place between 2 -9 Marchat Camp General Stefanik in Famagusta with participationfrom HQ UNFICYP Force engineers and Sector4. The event

included 14 members in singles and 16 in doubles tournaments.The winner was Jozef Matis who showed best skills and effort forwinning and defeated Jozef Husvar 6:1, 6:1 in final. On the thirdplace were current CO of Sector4 Lt Col Ľubomír Kochansky. Indouble was winning couple consisting from Jozef Matis/Jozef Hus-var who defeated Martin Pavlik/Michal Fratala 7:6, 6:1.

UNFICYP extended the usual courtesies when the Chief of Mission, Force commander and Chief ofStaff received the following visitors during March 2010.

Force Commander Rear Admiral MarioSánchez Debernardi met Rear AdmiralPhilippe Coindreau of France on 15March.

Force Commander Rear AdmiralMario Sánchez Debernardi metwith Mr. Pieter De Crem, BelgiumMinister of Defence on 3 March.

Chief of Staff Colonel Gerard Hughesmet Slovak Deputy Commander of LandForces Brig. General Pavel Macko on 19March.

February/March - Blue Beret

International Women's Daycelebrated in UNFICYP