Cyprus | The popular holiday island has an area where tourists shouldn’t have any business – Satu Koivu oversees the order there

Cyprus is located in the easternmost corner of the Mediterranean Sea, on the border of Europe, in the armpit of Turkey and the Middle East. In the middle of the island and its capital, Nicosia, there is a zone that can only be crossed through checkpoints.

The buffer zone, the so-called green line, belongs to Finns Koivun’s fairy tale job. He leads the UN police force in Cyprus and ensures that peaceful coexistence is maintained on the conflict-ridden island.

Communication skills are required, as the buffer zone is actually an armistice line that separates the two parts of the island of Cyprus, the Greek side and the Turkish side.

“There are sometimes conflicts at crossing points, but cooperation works with the UN and both sides,” says Koivu.

“Usually feelings don’t get heated, because the rules of the game are familiar to the locals.”

In the background is an old conflict that eventually led to the split of the island in the 1970s.

On the south side of the island is the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, which belongs to the European Union, and on the other side of the zone is the Turkish part of Northern Cyprus, whose independence has been recognized only by Turkey. It occupied northern Cyprus in 1974 in response to a Greek-backed coup to prevent the island’s annexation to Greece.

Koivu started as the head of the police component of the UN Cyprus peacekeeping operation Unficyp in May 2021. The choice was historic: Koivu is the first Finn to be appointed to the UN peacekeeping police leadership position. She is also the first woman in a similar position.

Birch is responsible for the operation of the 70-strong police component and the police stations in the UN region around Cyprus.

The operational area can accommodate both farming regions and refugee routes – as well as the shared capital Nicosia.

“Here, police work is typically the maintenance of public order and security, for example monitoring order at demonstrations,” says Koivu.

The Nicosia base is home to the headquarters of the UN Cyprus Forces, and in addition to the police, peacekeeping soldiers and civilian workers operate in the area.

September in the heat of the end, the headquarters area looks like an oasis in a dry desert. Plants turn green and flowers bloom in the holiday of old British brick barracks.

Britain ruled Cyprus first as a protectorate, then as an occupied territory and as a crown colony from 1878 to 1960. Two bases, Akrotiri and Dekeleia, still remind us of the British era in Cyprus.

The yellow brick barracks date back to the British colonial era and are home to soldiers. Like other police officers, Koivu lives outside the buffer zone in a rented apartment.

“It brings a different everyday life. At the same time, you can get away from work and get a feel for local life,” says Koivu.

In practice, Koivu is always at work, but there are also quiet moments. Then Koivu heads to the mountains for a hike.

“The island’s nature and history are fascinating. Cyprus is a strategic place, and all kinds of things have happened here.”

in Finland Koivu works as the personnel manager of the entire police force at the Police Board, where he started in 2014.

The 56-year-old Koivu has no less than 34 years of police career behind him. He says that he is already “at the end of his career”, so now is a good time for international assignments.

“When women started being accepted from Finland for UN assignments in the 1990s, I became interested. In 2010–2011, I was in charge of the police department of the EU mission in Palestine and I noticed that my own wings are carried in international arenas,” says Koivu.

Koivu has had short-term assignments abroad in addition to domestic work, but for both work and family reasons he stayed in Finland. Now the two daughters are adults, and the home has become a strong support for new tasks. Koivu’s spouse is the director of the police dog department at the University of Applied Sciences Pekka Kokkonenwho has also worked a lot abroad.

“I applied for several positions in the spring of 2021. I was also in the final stages of positions related to South Sudan, Kosovo and the UN headquarters, but Cyprus was confirmed first,” Koivu says in his office, which has a map of Cyprus and a Finnish flag on the wall.

In Finland has a strong history of peacekeeping in Cyprus. The first UN peace mediator on the island was Finnish Sakari Tuomiojaand a total of about 10,000 Finns have worked in Cyprus in peacekeeping duties between 1964 and 2005.

“Finland is known here, and Finns have a good reputation,” Koivu says.

He has been noticed, for example, at traffic lights, and the Finnish flag on the sleeve badge of his official uniform has caused a motorist stopped next to him to give a thumbs up.

The UN mission in Cyprus began in 1964. Its task is to maintain peace and public order and security in the region. With the help of international forces, the aim is to restore normal conditions between the island’s population groups.

The soldiers still have plenty of work to do on the island, as the peace negotiations are stuck and the parties do not recognize each other.

In police matters According to Koivu, things have progressed well and relations are working, although diplomatic skills are sometimes put to the test.

Among other things, smuggling, poaching and dumping of waste have been observed in the buffer zone. Small birds are killed illegally in the area, and landfill materials ranging from construction waste to dead horses are brought there.

Read more: Illegal trapping of small birds in the Mediterranean increases the decline of birds in Finland as well

A small village in the zone has illegal casinos in the hands of professional criminals. They are risky places.

“They and the poachers have weapons,” Koivu states.

Cyprus is generally a well-armed place. “There are plenty of armed forces here on both sides of the cease-fire borders,” says Koivu.

This is unthinkable on holiday beaches.

Most of the buffer zone is a fenced and forbidden area, which also has old minefields.

“There are clashes from time to time, and tourists are also directed away from the area. There are also home alarms, demonstrations and illegal collection of natural resources,” says Koivu.

The most serious recent incident happened in May 2022, when a military patrol in the buffer zone was shot. The saddest situations are encounters with refugees.

According to Koivu, his versatile police background and positive attitude have helped him abroad.

“You have to learn from history and make tomorrow better,” says Koivu.