Not About Duty Alone…

Szöveg: Capt. (MD) Dr. István Kardos | 2017. július 8. 11:36

It is often the case that the peace operations of the Hungarian contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in the buffer zone are complemented with other, non-military tasks, of which the most important is to provide assistance for and liaising with the population. The soldiers serving here frequently give proof of their sensitivity to mankind and camaraderie as well.

In recent days, the 1st platoon of the Hungarian contingent stationed at Athienou in the UN buffer zone received a thank-you letter.

In the letter, the management of the Cleanthios Community Home of Old People Athienou thanks Platoon Leader Lt. Tamás Makány and his soldiers for having started to provide assistance in search of a lost resident immediately after being notified by the elderly home.

The case occurred on 26 April, when at midday, two frightened Greek Cypriot nurses arrived in Camp Szent István to inform the platoon leader that a 83-year-old resident of the local elderly home – who is unable to communicate with the outside world – had gone missing, and it was feared that the person would stray over the Turkish cease-fire line.

The platoon commander immediately ordered searching Athienou and the main patrol track in the north that borders the Turkish cease-fire line, as well as the supplementing secondary patrol tracks. He detailed two patrol teams on duty to carry out the task, and alerted the other two off-duty patrol teams. Meanwhile Lt. Balázs Peti, the second-in-command of the platoon got in touch with the UN military liaison officer on the Turkish side, and sent him a photo as well as an exact description of the person.

In what followed, Lt. Makány and the two nurses immediately started the search in the zone along the Turkish ceasefire line. Their efforts were successful, as the search party – recruited from local civilians and augmented with Hungarian UN peacekeepers – found the elderly Cypriot safe and sound around 18:00.