Ledra still first choice for old city linkup

LEDRA Street remains the main candidate for the reopening of a possible crossing point in the old city of Nicosia, despite talk of a possible checkpoint at nearby Phaneromeni.
Speculation that progress could be under way arose after the Assistant to the Chief of Police Soteris Charalambous visited the Phaneromeni Green Line yesterday morning.
But an employee at the Berlin Café, situated directly in front of the likely Phaneromeni crossing, told the Cyprus Mail that his impression after seeing the police officials was that they were not interested in opening up a crossing there.

“I overheard some police officers with the Assistant Chief of Police saying that it was too difficult to clear a crossing there and that they would most likely make a crossing at Ledra, if indeed it is agreed that it should open up.”

National Guard Chief Lieutenant General Athanasios Nikolodemos said yesterday that the army would follow any instructions given to them by the relative political authorities.
“The reopening up of any crossings is a political matter and that decision will be decided at a much higher level. As for the National Guard, we will look into the matter if indeed it is decided that the crossings should reopen. Regarding the subject of whether there would be soldiers or guard posts present at the crossings, that will be decided in the event that the crossings are opened again.”

The Assistant to the Chief of Police Soteris Charalambous was unavailable for comment.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.