Cypriots remove 50-year-old barrier at crossing

The highly symbolic gesture comes as the two communities prepare for talks aimed at ending the Mediterranean island's division, an obstacle to Turkey's hoped-for membership in the European Union and a source of tension between NATO partners Athens and Ankara.

Hundreds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots crossed Ledra after the 80-meter stretch of road in the main commercial district of Nicosia (Lefkoşa) was opened to pedestrians in a ceremony attended by United Nations envoys and dignitaries from both communities.

Crews had spent days sweeping away debris, repaving the street and reinforcing abandoned buildings along the 70-meter stretch of Ledra Street that runs through a UN-controlled buffer zone, transforming the weed-strewn strip. Turkish military patrols in northern Nicosia were also moved out of sight. "I couldn't sleep all night. I will walk to St. Loukas Church [on the Turkish Cypriot side] and light a candle," said Loukia Skordi Salidou, 65. "My generation is dying. Thank God I'm alive to see this."

An up-market shopping street on the Greek Cypriot side, Ledra fans out in the north into a maze of haberdasheries and fruit markets, the traditional mainstay of merchants in Nicosia. "We all know opening Ledra Street does not mean the Cyprus problem is resolved. There is much more hard work to be done," said Elizabeth Spehar, the chief of mission for the United Nations in Cyprus, at the ceremony. "But the opening gives us a glimpse of what is possible."

The four-decade-old Cyprus problem erupted after the eastern Mediterranean island was granted independence from Britain in 1960, soon followed by an outbreak of inter-communal clashes in 1963. The island was ethnically divided between a Greek south and a Turkish north when the Turkish military intervened in 1974 under the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee after diplomacy failed to end unrest on the island. In addition to the Turkish Cypriot Peace Forces Command (KTBK), made up of 4,500 Turkish Cypriots, there are around 35,000 Turkish troops stationed on the island.

The division on Ledra Street precedes that by some 15 years, when barricades were erected by Turkish Cypriots in 1958. A more permanent roadblock was erected after ethnic strife in 1963.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed last month to re-launch talks, ending a five-year stalemate in reunification efforts. "By opening this street, we hope the road to a solution to the Cyprus problem will also open," George Iacovou, an aide to Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias, told reporters.

Reunification hopes

Christofias' election last month on rising discontent with his predecessor's hard-line policies towards Turkish Cypriots had raised hopes for a revival of talks stalled since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification blueprint in a 2004 referendum.

Greek Cyprus joined the EU soon afterwards, gaining veto power over Turkey's accession process. The international community and Brussels recognize the Greek Cypriot-controlled government in the south as the island's legitimate authority, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) is recognized only by Ankara.

The European Commission welcomed the opening of Ledra Street, saying it was an important confidence-building step. "It shows the two sides on the island are ready to put aside the difficulties of the past and work together to bring a comprehensive settlement and reunification to Cyprus," Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.

Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are expected to enter full-fledged negotiations this summer, after "assessing progress in ongoing preparatory talks."

"We are experiencing a historic day today. We are witnessing one of the obstacles to a solution come down," said Özdil Nami, aide to Talat, who said that "almost half a century of division is symbolized" in Ledra Street. "A small step, but a very important step."

Once known as "murder mile" from the days when Greek Cypriot guerillas targeted British colonial troops, Ledra cuts through the heart of medieval Nicosia and across the UN-patrolled green line splitting the city of about 250,000 residents.

On Thursday, peace campaigners on the Turkish Cypriot side of the street welcomed Greek Cypriots by beating drums. "We want more streets to open until there are no checkpoints left," said Turkish Cypriot laborer Ahmet Cemal, 53.

Adil Kamil, a 61-year-old Turkish Cypriot from Paphos in the southern part of the island, said she hoped Ledra Street would be the start of reunification. "We are so happy. Let's hope all the gates open so we can live like before," she said, speaking in Greek.

Her sentiments were echoed by Kenan Arıtoğlu, an optometrist who runs a store near Ledra Street in the northern part of the capital. "These are small steps. I'm very excited to be crossing this symbolic gate," he said. "I'm hopeful this initiative will lead to other initiatives to solve the problem."

But some were less jubilant. "This is just another crossing. Another crossing has opened, nothing more," said Costas Andreou, 70, originally from Kyphrea in the north. "Let's hope for better days soon, before we die."

Talat says Ledra opening no big deal 

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said opening of a crossing in the middle of Ledra Street in Nicosia was important in symbolic terms and likely to benefit Turkish Cypriot shop owners in the area, but warned against excessive expectations.

"It is not the crossings that improve relations between two peoples; it is the political atmosphere," he told a group of journalists in İstanbul. He reminded that Turkish and Greek Cypriots flocked with excitement to first crossings opened in 2003 but lamented that in the end relations between the two communities got tenser, contrary to earlier expectations that freedom to cross to the other side freely will leave them craving for reunification.

"One should not forget that opening more crossings may make people feel that the current situation is normal and thus deepen the division, instead of increasing readiness for reunification," he said.

Last week, Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt also played down opening of the crossing, known as Lokmacı gate, saying it was just one of the many crossings. Büyükanıt also said the Turkish military would not withdraw from the area and asserted that there would be no Turkish troop pullout from Cyprus unless a just and lasting solution is found.

Talat backed Büyükanıt when asked to comment on his remarks. "It is our quest for a just and lasting solution uttered by a military commander," he said. Fatma Demirelli İstanbul