GREEK and Turkish Cypriot mayors of Nicosia Michalakis Zambelas and Kutlay Erk both insisted yesterday there were no obstacles – military, political or otherwise – to the opening of the Ledra Street crossing in central Nicosia.
“Our aim is to see the crossing open for Christmas. We are ready, and I think the other side is also ready,” Zambelas told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding that once he received a “green light” from the Turkish Cypriot authorities he would immediately begin work on the crossing. He insisted that once work began it would take a maximum of one month to complete.
Yesterday Turkish Cypriot Nicosia Mayor Kutlay Erk responded to Zambelas’ statement by saying, “We lit the green light months ago”.
“If he has the power to open the crossing, let him do it one-sidedly like we did in Zodhia. Let this be a challenge to him. If he is a man, let’s see him do it. If he opens his side of the crossing, he will find our side already open,” he added.
But Erk says he believes Zambelas would not be permitted to open the crossing because of government and military opposition.
“He cannot even remove that observation stand at the end of Ledra Street,” Erk accused.
However, Zambelas said yesterday he had similar doubts over whether Erk and the Turkish Cypriot authorities had received the go-ahead from the Turkish military to open the crossing.
Erk responded by insisting, “There is no military obstruction on our side, but I think there is on his.”
The latest new crossing in the buffer zone opened last August near the western village of Zodhia after more than a year of accusations and counter accusations of foot dragging by the authorities on both sides of the Green Line. The matter was only resolved when the Turkish Cypriot authorities went ahead and opened their side of the crossing – something that caught the Greek Cypriots and the EU, who were supposed to have organised the upgrading of the 1.8km stretch between the two zone, off guard. Yesterday Erk challenged Zambelas and the Cypriot government to catch the Turkish Cypriots off guard.
The opening of Ledra Street will have great symbolic meaning as it was the first location to see a physical barrier between the Greeks and Turks on the island. A barricade was placed there in 1958 when the Greek Cypriots struggling against British colonial rule began to turn some of their animosity against the Turkish Cypriot minority. The first moves to open the crossing came just under a year ago when the Cypriot government proposed the opening on either a periodic or permanent basis. However, the move proved unsuccessful, due mainly to Turkish military objections to de-mining the area. Since then, however, the area has been de-mined.
Yesterday UN spokesman Brian Kelly told the Mail of logistical and infrastructural problems that might stall the opening of the crossing. While he described as “commendable” the attitudes of the two mayors, he said, “There is considerable infrastructure in the area that needs to be shored up. Let us be realistic”.
He added that it was not simply a case of opening the 30-metre crossing, but more to do with securing the areas adjacent to it.
“Furthermore,” Kelly said, “in order to proceed will be necessary to put together an arrangement similar to the EU funded project in Zodhia”.
But Zambelas insisted opening Ledra Street would not be a long, drawn out process.
“The whole exercise will not take more than a month. We have done all the research necessary.”
The cash for the project is also available, Zambelas says, having been donated by the EU through the UNDP.
