Cyprus president says a buffer zone splitting the island won’t become another migrant route

The president of Cyprus said Tuesday that he won't "open another route" for irregular migration by letting through more than two dozen asylum-seekers now stranded in a UN-controlled buffer zone that bisects the war-divided island nation.

President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters that his government is ready to provide any and all humanitarian assistance for the 27 Afghan, Cameroonian, Sudanese and Iranian migrants if the need arises.

But he said the 180-kilometer (120-mile) buffer zone "won't become a new avenue for the passage of illegal migrants." Turkey lets them pass through its territory and allows them to board airplanes and boats heading for the north of Cyprus, Christodoulides said.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by Greek junta-backed supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot...