Turkey’s Erdogan slams peacekeepers for blocking road project in Cyprus and accuses UN force of bias

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president has criticized U.N. peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in ethnically divided Cyprus.  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the action “unacceptable” and accused the peacekeeping force on Monday of bias against Turkish Cypriots. 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 U.N.-controlled buffer zone. The road is designed to connect the village of Arsos, located in the Mediterranean island nation’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, with the multi-ethnic village of Pyla, which is located inside the buffer zone and abuts the Greek Cypriot south. Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops in northern Cyprus.