It has been reported that committees established by the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides in the Nicosia region have been working under the coordination of the UN Peacekeeping Force for the past year to investigate the opening of new border checkpoints to alleviate the congestion at the Metehan/Agios Dometios checkpoint, Kibris Postasi reports.
It was stated that one of the three options presented by the Turkish side has been conditionally accepted by the Greek Cypriot side.
Citing a report by Greek Cypriot daily ‘Haravgi’, an anonymous source stated that the Turkish Cypriot side had proposed the opening of new crossings at “Ay. Kasiano” (Schools District), Ledra Palace, and “Mia Milia” (Haspolat). However, there has been no progress in opening the Ay. Kasiano crossing, which was suggested for pedestrian traffic only.
The Greek Cypriot side has refused to accept the proposal to open the Ledra Palace gate to vehicle traffic, stating that the area’s layout is not suitable for vehicle crossing, except for diplomatic and Peacekeeping Force vehicles.
The Greek Cypriot administration did not reject the idea of opening a crossing in Haspolat, but conditionally insisted on the opening of crossings at “Piroi” (Gaziler)-“Athienou” (Kiracıköy) and “Kokkina” (Erenköy)-Aşağı Pirgo checkpoints by the Turkish Cypriot side.
The newspaper reported that the Chairman of the Barrier Opening Committee, Andreas Karos, warned that if attempts are made to open other border crossings before the one in Erenköy is opened, they would engage in vigorous protests, including obstructing passage through existing border checkpoints.
