ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus

Okay kiddo, so imagine you are playing a game of tag with your friends in the playground. There are two groups of friends who don't really get along and keep arguing about who gets to play where. So to solve the problem, their parents decide to draw an imaginary line down the middle of the playground and say that one group can play on one side and the other group can play on the other side.

That imaginary line down the middle of the playground is a bit like the United Nations buffer zone in Cyprus. Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and a long time ago, there were two groups of people living there who didn't really get along. One group was made up of Greek people and the other group was made up of Turkish people.

A long time ago, the two groups had a big fight and a lot of people got hurt. So the United Nations, which is an organization that helps countries work together, decided to create a buffer zone.

That buffer zone is a bit like that imaginary line down the middle of the playground. It's an area between where the Greek people live and where the Turkish people live, and nobody is allowed to go there. The United Nations has soldiers there who make sure everyone stays safe and nobody crosses that imaginary line.

This way, even though the two groups of people don't really get along, they can still live on the same island and the United Nations helps make sure everyone stays safe.