The Turkish Cypriot side raised the issue of reopening the Ledra street crossing during a teleconference on Tuesday of the bicommunal Technical Committee on Health and the problems caused by the Greek Cypriot side’s regulation for a negative coronavirus test each time one crosses to the south.
Epidemiology experts from both communities took part in the teleconference.
Greek Cypriot head of the committee Leonidas Phylactou told the Cyprus News Agency that the meeting was of a purely technical nature and that the Greek Cypriot side asked questions about the epidemiological report on the situation in the north submitted by the Turkish Cypriots last week.
Phylactou said the Greek Cypriot side received satisfactory answers but that this would be better judged by the epidemiology team.
He also said that the issue of migrants who arrive from Turkey to the government-controlled areas through the north was also discussed. He said the Turkish Cypriots said at the meeting that migrants usually arrive from the sea and are immediately taken (by traffickers) to the government-controlled areas through the buffer zone. They also said that those migrants who remain in the occupied areas are tested for coronavirus.
Member of the advisory committee, professor of microbiology and molecular virology at the University of Nicosia Petros Karayiannis told the Cyprus Mail the Turkish Cypriot experts said they test those who remain in the north but they have no way of tracking down the people who help them cross to the south.
Karayiannis had expressed concerns over the arrival of migrants after eight people who had come through the north from Turkey last week tested positive for the virus. He had said that the traffickers could also be infected and be spreading the virus in the north.
Phylactou also told CNA that the issue of the measures taken at crossings was also raised.
He said that the Turkish side raised the issue of the Ledra street crossing and the problems faced by people who need to regularly cross to the government-controlled areas due to the requirement of the Republic of Cyprus for a test certificate every 72 hours.
The Turkish Cypriot side also raised the issue of the temporary ban on tourists who arrive in the Republic from crossing to the north.
The Turkish Cypriot side and the north’s business community have criticised the government for not allowing tourists to cross between the two sides which, they say, seriously harms the north’s economy and tourism sector.
