Christofias hopes for Ledra deal before Talat talks

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday said he hoped his forthcoming meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat would bring the opening of Ledra Street.

From now until the day of the meeting, discussions surrounding the opening of the checkpoint are expected to be complete, he added. There will therefore be no need to discuss the specific issue at length on the day of the meeting.

“I want to believe that on the day of the meeting, we will not need to make special discussions [over Ledra Street] and any pending issues will be sorted so we can announce the opening of Ledra Street,” the President said before departing for Athens yesterday.

He pointed out, however, that the opening of the Limnitis checkpoint was not expected to happen any time soon.

Christofias said the aim was to open the Limnitis checkpoint as well, but not as soon as he was expecting Ledra to open.

According to the CyBC last night, the government has put forward four points regarding the opening of Ledra Street.

The first is for the United Nations to have control over the checkpoint.

A second is that under no circumstance should Turkish troops be able to cross Ledra Street in any way.

Another point was the renovation of the old buildings either side of the checkpoint for the safety of the public. The Cyprus government’s position is for both communities to take on the project in collaboration, under the umbrella of the UN, through its UNDP programme.

And finally the desire to work on the opening of Limnitis was reiterated.

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