Group calls demo for opening of Ledra Street

A GROUP calling itself the Committee for the Opening of Ledra Street yesterday called for an emergency demonstration at the end of Ledra Street tomorrow morning to protest against the games being play by politicians over the opening of the crossing.

An announcement from the group said it was time for both sides to stop the excuses for not opening the crossing. It said the dismantling of the bridge by the Turkish Cypriot side should have prompted the Greek Cypriot side to remove the barrier at their end of the street.

Politicians have been at each other’s throats over the controversial footbridge, erected a year ago as a means of allowing people from both sides to cross while allowing Turkish military patrols to continue along Ermou Street, but the government said that as long as it remained, the crossing would never open.

Just before Christmas, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said he would take down the bridge and called on the Greek side to demolish the wall at their end. However, the Greek Cypriot side said taking down something that should not have been there in the first place was not a concession and that there was nothing to reciprocate. It has several other demands that it wants fulfilled before the crossing can be opened, including disengagement.

Now Talat says they Turkish Cypriot side will not comply with the government’s other demands.

“It is deplorable to see the politicians cementing the partition,” said the statement from the Commiteee.

“Even before the bridge was there, the existence of barricade on the Greek Cypriot side was an anachronism, a remnant of another era, an era of conflict and hate.”

It said the demolition of the barricades could only be a good thing for all concerned and that the opening of crossings was essential in the fight for the reunification of Cyprus and for peace.

“All the barricades that separate Cyprus in two are marks of shame in the 21st century and it should disappear,” said the statement.

“It is time finally to stop the excuses and take immediate steps that would make the opening of the crossing irreversible. We should not lose this chance.

We call on the Cypriot population, Greeks and Turks, to help put an end to the partition, beginning with Ledra Street.”

Tomorrow’s demonstration will take place at 11am with a march from Eleftheria Square to the barricade at the end of Ledra Street.

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.