Troopship Sails With U.N. Force

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30395, 20 March 1964, Page 11

Troopship Sails With U.N. Force

OTTAWA, March 19.

The Canadian air* craft - carrier Bonaventure sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Cyprus late last night, carrying troops, vehicles, communications equipment and stores for the Canadian troops in the U.N. peace - keeping force.

The Bonaventure will make rendezvous with the destroyer Retigouche off Gibraltar and the two ships will sail to Cyprus together. The Bonaventure will take between 10 and 13 days to reach Cyprus. In Ankara, the Turkish Minister of Information, Ali Ihsan Gogus, said the Turkish

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

Government considered it natural that the 650 Turkish troops in Cyprus should be part of the United Nations force. So far no decision has been taken opposing this, he said. Asked if Turkey was urging that one of the terms of reference for the peace force should be authority to open fire to stop fighting between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, he said: “A condition like this has never been suggested. Such action has not yet been felt necessary.” In Nicosia, unconfirmed reports say that the U.N. Secre-tary-General, U Thant, is insisting that members of the United Nations force must have the right to search, disarm and arrest and also to maintain the “Green Line” boundary between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia.