HOPES for a swift opening of the crossing at Ledra Street grew yesterday when Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou said significant progress had been made during a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot side.
Iacovou met yesterday with Ozdil Nami, an aide to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. The meeting took place at the offices of UNFICYP Chief of Mission Michael Moller at UN headquarters in Nicosia.
The dual purpose of the meeting was to set a date for a face-to-face meeting between Talat and President Demetris Christofias and to prepare the ground for the opening of Ledra Street.
The two leaders are expected to give their stamp of approval to the opening at their meeting on March 21.
“As far as the crossing point is concerned, we have made significant progress,” Iacovou told the Cyprus News Agency after his meeting with Nami.
“We will continue our efforts through Mr Moller and I have credible hopes that everything will be ready to be decided by President Christofias and Mr Talat on the 21st,” Iacovou added.
He also said the issue of other crossing points, such as Limnitis, would be on the agenda of the upcoming meeting between the two leaders.
Iacovou is not scheduled to meet Nami before then, according to UNFICYP spokesman Jose Luis Diaz, which could mean most of the issues related to the opening have been ironed out. Diaz said the final details would be thrashed out between Talat and Christofias.
The UN saw this as a good sign, he said.
A statement from UNFICYP quoted Moller as saying the encounter between Iacovou and Nami took place in a very cordial and constructive atmosphere. “The aides reached a great degree of convergence on the issues discussed, including on the possible future opening of the Ledra Street crossing,” the statement said.
Asked later yesterday about the Ledra opening, Christofias said: “I wish and I hope when I meet Mr Talat that we can announce the opening up of Ledra Street.”
However, Chistofias urged patience until it could finally be determined under what conditions the crossing point would open. “We did not make any concessions,” he said. “I want to underline this.”
Despite the words of caution, preparations are already under way for a quick opening up of Ledra if the two leaders reach a final agreement. An office has been set up next to the guard post on the Greek Cypriot side, and although computers are not yet fully installed they have been moved into the area along with office furniture.
Yesterday afternoon, Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides visited the end of Ledra Street with senior police to check on progress.
“It’s a routine visit to see what arrangements are being made in the area,” he told the Cyprus Mail. Commenting on speculation the opening would be swift, Chrysostomides said: “I hope that it will be open soon and under the proper conditions.” He refused to be drawn on whether it could happen a day or two after the leaders’ meeting on March 21.
Also yesterday, officials from ruling AKEL and the Republican Turkish Party of Mehmet Ali Talat met at AKEL offices to give a boost to the new peace efforts.
“Our goal is to contribute to efforts in such a way that through the implementation of the July agreement, between the two leaders,
the two communities can reach an agreement as soon as possible,” said AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou.
Both political parties had agreed that the opening of Ledra street would “send a hopeful message to all Cypriots for a better direction to the Cyprus problem in the future,” he said.
RTP general secretary Omer Kalyoncu said: “We believe that the opening of a crossing point at Ledra Street at the forthcoming meeting of the leaders of the two communities next week will be an important development.”
