Reports that the status of Cetinkaya’s stadium “Taksim” has changed, are wrong and misleading, Aleem Siddique, spokesperson of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), told CNA on Wednesday.
Siddique was asked to comment on recent reports claiming that construction work has begun on “Taksim,” which is located in the buffer zone in the area of Ledra Palace in Nicosia.
He said that the area remains under UNFICYP control and added that the “stadium will be used for football practices only, the way this was done in the past, with the implementation of strict rules regarding its use and the protection of its status within the buffer zone.”
Cetinkaya is a Turkish Cypriot sports club, best known for its football team. Created in 1930 in Nicosia, it is one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association along with AEL Limassol, Trust, Olympiakos Nicosia, Aris Limassol, APOEL, Anorthosis Famagusta, and EPA Larnaca.
It managed to win a Cypriot first division title, two cups and three super cups, before joining the “Birinci Lig” in 1955 with other Turkish Cypriot teams.