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The Associated PressPublished: March 26, 2008

UN starts work to open symbolic crossing point in divided Nicosia


NICOSIA, Cyprus: U.N. de-mining experts swept the buffer zone dividing Nicosia for discarded explosives Wednesday as part of efforts to open a crossing in Europe's last divided capital.

U.N. spokesman Jose Diaz said de-mining teams completed a search for unexploded devices or booby traps that could have been left over from the 1974 Turkish invasion, which divided the island along ethnic lines.

The sweep of the 70-meter (230-foot) stretch of no man's land was necessary before work could begin to shore up dilapidated buildings on either side of the pedestrian thoroughfare.

"A six-person mine action team carried out the search with support from UNFICYP (United Nations Force in Cyprus), during which no dangerous items were found," a U.N. statement said.

The clearance, shoring up and other preparations for were expected to last 10 days or more, Diaz said.

Barbed wire first divided Ledra — a busy shopping street in the Cypriot capital's mediaeval core — in the early 1960s amid fighting between the island's Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.

Its division was cemented in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece. Since then, the street has come to symbolize the island's ethnic split.

The leaders of the Greek and Cypriot communities agreed Friday to open a crossing at Ledra Street as a sign of good will before resuming talks on reunifying the island.

A sticking point appears to have been overcome after the Turkish army agreed to keep patrolling soldiers out of sight of the crossing point, officials close to the discussions said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Greek Cypriot National Guard will also pull its soldiers back.

The new president of the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south, Dimitris Christofias, and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, Mehmet Ali Talat, also agreed Friday to reach a reunification deal "as soon as possible."

Aides to Christofias and Talat agreed Wednesday to quickly set up 13 groups of experts to bridge the gaps between the two sides on issues such as security, territory, crime and health.

The groups will have until June to make as much progress as possible before Christofias and Talat begin face-to-face negotiations.

A U.N. statement said both sides agreed to set up additional groups if necessary "to ensure that their respective leaders may be able to negotiate as effectively as possible on the full spectrum of issues to be discussed".

Negotiations had remained stalled since 2004 when Greek Cypriots, in a referendum, overwhelmingly rejected a U.N. reunification plan. Turkish Cypriots accepted it. The island joined the European Union the same year, although EU benefits are enjoyed only by Greek Cypriots.

Turkish Armed Forces Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit, who is on an official visit to the north, pledged that Turkish troops would remain on the island as long as takes to reach a reunification agreement.

"One has to know very well how to reach a just and lasting peace ... Turkish troops are on the island for peace. Until a just and lasting peace is secured, Turkish troops will stay on the island," Buyukanit told reporters Wednesday before talks with Talat.

The Cyprus government condemned Buyukanit's visit as "provocative" and said it breached the island's sovereign rights.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/ ... pening.php

[Kikapu]

The Associated PressPublished: March 28, 2008


Work crews start clearing no man's land to open Nicosia's divided Ledra Street


NICOSIA, Cyprus: Work crews used tractors on Friday to clear part of the buffer zone splitting Nicosia, ahead of next week's planned opening of a symbolic street in the heart of Europe's last divided capital.

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot crews entered the United Nations-controlled no-man's land dividing Ledra Street early Friday to sweep it clear of debris and to start shoring up dilapidated buildings on either side of the once busy pedestrian thoroughfare.

Trucks hauled away debris and vegetation that has been growing unchecked since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island and split it along ethnic lines in response to a short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.

The leaders of the Greek and Cypriot communities agreed last week to open a crossing at Ledra Street as a sign of good will before resuming talks on reunifying the island.

The new president of the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south, Dimitris Christofias, and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, Mehmet Ali Talat, have said they want a reunification deal as soon as possible.

Crews received the all-clear to start work after U.N. deminers swept the 70-meter (230-foot) stretch of buffer zone for unexploded ordnance left over from the invasion. No explosives were found.

Greek Cypriot Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou and her Turkish Cypriot counterpart in the breakaway north, Cemal Bulutoglulari, inspected progress, escorted by U.N. officials.

"Work is progressing satisfactorily. Ledra Street could be opened towards the end of next week," Mavrou said.

Turkey's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit, who is visiting the north, also appeared briefly, dressed in civilian garb rather than his military uniform, for a firsthand look.

It is hoped that opening a crossing would turn a new chapter in efforts to reunify the island that have eluded generations of diplomats.

Barbed wire first divided Ledra — a busy shopping street in the Cypriot capital's medieval center — in the early 1960s, amid fighting between the island's Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. Its division was cemented in 1974, and the street has come to symbolize the island's ethnic split.

Nicosia Municipality Chief Architect Agni Petridou said crews swept the road clear and installed lighting fixtures along the route. She said scaffolding will also be put up to buttress buildings, while the street will have to be repaved.

"We will be finished in very few days. We will work through the weekend," Petridou said.

Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou urged patience.

"It's more important for work to open Ledra Street to be completed properly and effectively instead of rushing," he said.

Lynn Pascoe, U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, is due in Cyprus on Sunday to assess how best the world body can help Christofias and Talat reach a settlement. A Ledra Street opening could coincide with the senior U.N. official's presence on the island. He is scheduled to depart April 2.

Reunification talks have been stalled since 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. plan on reuniting the island. Turkish Cypriots accepted it. The island joined the European Union the same year, although EU benefits are enjoyed only by Greek Cypriots.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/ ... Street.php

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The Associated PressPublished: March 28, 2008


Turkish court becomes stage for conflict between Islamic-rooted government and opposition


ISTANBUL, Turkey: A top court could decide as early as next week whether to hear a case for a ban of Turkey's Islamic-oriented ruling party, in a dispute that threatens to deepen political divisions, hurt the economy and slow an already troubled bid to join the European Union.

Over the past year, the battle between a democratically elected government led by pious Muslims and its opposition, loosely defined as the secular elite, has shifted from Parliament, to the ballot box, to the courts. Turkey's military, an instigator of coups in past decades, has warned that secular ideals are in peril, though an armed intervention seems unlikely for now.

Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, chief prosecutor of the High Court of Appeals, said in his complaint that 71 people, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, should be banned from politics for five years.

Yalcinkaya cites the government's efforts to lift a ban on the wearing of Islamic head scarves in universities, attempts to roll back restrictions on religious education and allegedly anti-secular comments by ruling party officials.

The head of the 11-member Constitutional Court, Hasim Kilic, said judges could meet as early as Monday to discuss the argument for the dissolution of the Justice and Development Party on grounds that it was trying to scrap secular principles enshrined in the country's constitution.

"Turkey is increasingly straying from peace. It won't do anyone any good to raise tension in society," Kilic, a 58-year-old economist, told local reporters in an appeal for national unity.

The court's rapporteur, Osman Can, sent his assessment of the 162-page document to the judges on Thursday night, a court official who has seen Can's report said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Can suggested that the court hear the case but ask the prosecutor's office to provide more evidence, the official said. Hurriyet newspaper reported in its Friday edition that the rapporteur also said "closing down parties is not compatible with democratic systems."

The rapporteur's conclusion is not binding for the court, which needs a majority of at least 6-5 to accept the case. However, any decision to close the party requires a 7-4 vote. In 1998 and 2001, the court closed parties deemed to be anti-secular.

The ruling party has a majority in the 550-member parliament, and its members could likely regroup in a new party in order to lead the government despite the disruption of any closure.

The government says the case is a desperate act by opponents in the judiciary and other state sectors who resent the erosion of their traditional power, as well as a blow to Turkey's efforts to model its democratic institutions on Western standards as a condition of EU membership. Turkey's European campaign has already been damaged by French and German misgivings, a dispute over the divided island of Cyprus and divisions within the predominantly Muslim nation that have sapped domestic support for the project.

"Of course, it makes it more difficult for the Turkish government to negotiate with the European Union and close the different chapters when they're going to sit in the court all the time," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said in Cyprus on Thursday after a visit to Turkey.

"We do not make the courtroom the place of political debates. Political solutions should take place in the parliament, not in the courtrooms," Moller said.

The conflict in Turkey, a NATO member with more than 70 million people, intensified last year when the military-backed opposition in Parliament tried in vain to derail Gul's presidential candidacy. Also in 2007, the ruling party surged to re-election with 47 percent of the popular vote, and national attention shifted temporarily to an escalation in the fight against Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.

The roots of the conflict lie in the era of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the national founder and early 20th century war hero who viewed Islam as an impediment to modern development and a symbol of the ills of the decrepit Ottoman Empire.

Ataturk imposed a secular system with an authoritarian streak, restricting religious dress, education and practices. Today, his ideological heirs spar with a government led by an emboldened class of Muslims who don't view Ataturk with the same reverence, though they cite a reformist record as proof that they won't dismantle secularism.

Leading business groups in Turkey have urged political parties to reduce tension and focus on economic development at a time when global markets have been shaken by the sharp economic slowdown in the United States. The Turkish stock market plunged on March 17, partly in response to the prosecutor's announcement of the case against the ruling party.

"Past experiences have proven that closing political parties has not resolved Turkey's political, social or economic problems," the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association said in a statement. "Rather, it has led domestic and international public opinion to question Turkey's democratic values and its commitment to universal standards."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/ ... Battle.php

[Kikapu]

Published: March 28, 2008

CYPRUS-Another false dawn?

The history of attempts to overcome the division of Cyprus can be measured out in false dawns. One or another leader could always be relied on to stand athwart the effort and yell "no!" Support from either Ankara or Athens would go missing. But last Friday, the newly minted Greek Cypriot leader, Demetris Cristofias, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, agreed to begin a new effort. Why should we be excited?

The Cyprus problem has been aptly compared to a padlock requiring four keys, held respectively by the Greek Cypriots, the Turkish Cypriots, Greece and Turkey.

The meeting last Friday took place on the ashes of the biggest effort ever made, when a comprehensive plan that had the EU's crucial blessing was approved by the Turkish Cypriots and turned down by the Greek Cypriots in separate referendums on April 24, 2004.

So where are the keepers of the padlock today? The Turkish Cypriots, left at the altar in 2004, would dearly aspire to be brought in from international isolation, which can only happen if they come to terms with the Greek Cypriots. Turkey's aspiration to join the EU depends on settling the Cyprus problem, if only because the Greek Cypriot-led Cyprus, now an EU member, has a veto. Since its rapprochement with Turkey began in the late 1990s, Greece has not stood in the way of a settlement. That's three keys in place.

What of the Greek Cypriots? No one had to force Cristofias to the meeting last Friday. His commitment to seek a solution was always in contrast to the ardent resistance of his former coalition partner and predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos. Cristofias and Talat, ideologically close, quickly agreed to form teams to start work. The fourth key appears to be in place.

The statement the leaders issued after their meeting deftly sidesteps the potentially thorny question of the basis on which negotiations are to take place. Clear ownership of the effort by the parties is obviously an advantage - the appearance of imposition from the outside handicapped the 2004 effort.

The talks that took place from 1999 to 2004 occurred against a deadline consisting of the countdown to EU enlargement: The EU wanted the problem solved before Cyprus's accession, and as long as that was not decided, Greek Cypriots had to demonstrate to the EU that they were making a good-faith effort.

This time there is no deadline. The Turkish Cypriots are in a hurry, but the tangible incentives for the Greek Cypriots are less clear.

What has changed on the Greek Cypriot side? While Turkish Cypriots approved the 2004 settlement plan by a 2:1 margin, close to 76 percent of Greek Cypriots rejected it. Is there reason to believe that people have changed their minds in sufficient numbers?

In 2004, Greek Cypriot undercurrents of opposition ran so strong that the campaign against the plan hardly touched on the substance of the proposals. Instead, it played to the fear of Turkey that many older Greek Cypriots still harbor, as well as to their belief that foreign meddling is responsible for the decades-long deadlock.

Even Greek Cypriots holding title to property currently under Turkish Cypriot control voted against the plan, knowing that they would thus forsake the possibility of recovering the property or receiving compensation for it. In 2004, fairly or not, Greek Cypriots felt they were being pushed into a settlement that involved considerable compromises - though on balance these paled by comparison with the sacrifices expected of the Turkish Cypriots, many of whom would be displaced, some for the second or third time in their lives.

Finally, the very nature of the proposed settlement seemed to displease the Greek Cypriots: Leaders had agreed as long ago as 1977 that the solution should be a bi-zonal, bi-communal and federal solution. The Greek Cypriot majority may have had trouble reconciling itself to the notion inherent in federalism of the political equality of federal partners and power-sharing at the federal level.

In his speech in the run-up to the referendum, Papadopoulos' opposition was built around one killer argument that anyone could understand: Why should Greek Cypriots go along with a compromise that they don't like when in a few weeks they will be in the EU and in a position to squeeze a better deal out of Turkey, whose membership aspirations they will able to blackball? Here the deadline worked against a settlement.

Cristofias will have to seek significant changes with respect to what was voted on in the 2004 referendums, particularly with respect to the security provisions and the overrated but emotional issue of Greek and Turkish troops - a few hundred can remain on the island under a 1960 treaty. No doubt the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides realize that this time around they will be facing an interlocutor prepared to engage in serious give-and-take. The Turkish Cypriots cannot realistically expect simply a carbon copy of the plan they already approved. Finding a fair balance that satisfies the Greek Cypriots without losing the Turkish Cypriots will be a difficult task.

But Cristofias is a seasoned player and the leader of the first pan-Cyprian political party on the island, and therein may lie the key: He and Talat, ideological brethren, will both have to be statesmanlike and think in terms of the whole island and all of its inhabitants - not through a sectarian prism.

Talat, supported by the Turkish leadership, will have to consider the lingering fears among Greek Cypriots, justified or not, and be prepared to adjust accordingly. Cristofias will have to persuade his people that they must address the lingering fear of the Turkish Cypriots - that the only relationship that the Greek Cypriots are prepared to entertain with them is one of domination.

Perhaps Talat and Cristofias can persuade their people to think of themselves as Cypriots as opposed to merely Greek- or Turkish-Cypriots.

Alvaro de Soto was special adviser on Cyprus to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and led the 1999-2004 negotiations.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/28/ ... desoto.php

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ReutersPublished: March 31, 2008

U.N. envoy takes pulse for Cyprus reunification bid

NICOSIA: A senior United Nations official began three days of talks on Monday with Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, taking the pulse for negotiations on reunifying the divided island, expected in three months' time.

A spokesman for the United Nations mission in Cyprus said Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe "is here to try to determine how the U.N. can best help the efforts of the parties to relaunch the process for negotiations".

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been estranged since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Peace talks collapsed in 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification blueprint accepted by Turkish Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriots represent Cyprus in the European Union and have a veto over the EU accession bid of Turkey, which keeps some 30,000 troops in north Cyprus.

Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, elected president a month ago, has vowed to press ahead with reunification talks with Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

"I'm always optimistic," Pascoe told reporters after a meeting with Christofias on Monday.

Both sides have agreed to resume peace talks by the end of June. Aides have launched consultations on negotiation topics including property and territory disputes as part of preparation for talks.

The sides are in the meantime expected to dismantle a poignant symbol of decades of division when they open up the Ledra Street thoroughfare in the centre of divided capital Nicosia to pedestrians in early April.

The street runs across the east-west ceasefire line bisecting Nicosia and marks the spot where the first seeds of division were sown in the late 1950s, when Cyprus was still a British colony.

(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Catherine Evans)

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/200 ... RUS-UN.php

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Commentary from "The Washington Times"

Reuniting Cyprus

By Bruce Fein
April 1, 2008

Cyprus is perched for a voluntary and mutually beneficial reunification between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north after decades of division. New Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat have agreed to direct negotiations within three months.

Mr. Christofias' predecessor displayed no interest in a partnership approach to reunifying the island. But success will crown that endeavor only if the United States and European Union play a catalytic role by honoring what they previously promised years ago in 2004: ending the punitive isolation of Turkish Cypriots that makes stalemate irresistible to Greek Cypriots.

A few pages of history illuminate the political dynamics and equities at work on Cyprus. In 1963, Greece Cypriots destroyed the equal partnership Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. Violence, political convulsions, and military clashes punctuated ensuing years. By 1974, a de facto separation of the island between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south had hardened. Passions on both sides awakened by these events make any attempt to assign blame counterproductive.

The two sides resolved to fashion a comprehensive unification scheme in 2004 under the aegis of the United Nations secretary-general. Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot views received equal billing during intensive negotiations. A reunification plan — the so-called "Annan Plan" — was finalized by the secretary-general on March 31, 2004. It respected bizonality, political equality of the two peoples and equal status for the two constituent states.

The plan was submitted to separate simultaneous referenda on April 24, 2004. Turkish Cypriots endorsed reunification by a margin of 2 to 1, whereas Greek Cypriots balked by a 3-to-1 margin.

The Greek Cypriot nyet was disappointing, but politically compelling for them. Turkish Cypriots had been laboring under an international embargo (sans Turkey) for decades. A 1983 Security Council resolution had called on all states to deny recognition to any Cypriot state other than the Greek Cypriot south.

The stalemate continued by the Greek Cypriot shipwreck of the Annan Plan prolonged the Turkish Cypriot economic strangulation while Greek Cypriots prospered from lavish international assistance, trade, and investment. Despite their intransigence, Greek Cypriots were obtusely rewarded by the European Union with a grant of membership on May 1, 2004.

In the aftermath of their conciliatory endorsement of the Annan Plan, Turkish Cypriots were promised their economic isolation would end. The reasons were threefold: to reward parties to conflicts who follow U.N. recommendations; to encourage Greek Cypriots to accede to reunification by knowing time would no longer work to pinch Turkish Cypriots financially; and to narrow the per capita income gap between Greek Cypriots ($27,000) and Turkish Cypriots ($13,000) to avoid the financial stresses of reunification experienced by Germany in 1990

On May 28, 2004, Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared: "[The Turkish Cypriot] vote has undone whatever rationale might have existed for pressuring and isolating them. ... I would hope [the Security Council] can give a strong lead to all states to cooperate both bilaterally and in international bodies to eliminate unnecessary restrictions and barriers that have the effect of isolating the Turkish Cypriots and impeding their development, deeming such a move as consistent with Security Council [nonrecognition] resolutions."

A treasure trove of pledges to Turkish Cypriots was forthcoming. The Council of the European Union was emblematic: "The Turkish Cypriot community has expressed their clear desire for a future within the European Union. The Council is determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community." U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher echoed that Turkish Cypriots would not be left "out in the cold."

Four years later, these promises have proven as valueless as a munificent bequest in a pauper's will. Nothing has been done to lift the embargo.

That ignominy must end. The United States and the EU should pioneer the opening of direct trade, travel, communications and investment with the Turkish Cypriot side. Like Taiwan, Turkish Cypriots should be granted admission to the World Trade Organization without undermining a "one Cyprus" policy.

Greek Cypriots need a reason to abandon their complacency with the status quo that cripples Turkish Cypriots. Even a Demosthenes would find difficulty in persuading Greek Cypriots to reunification if intransigence carried economic and political advantages.

Turkish Cypriots have kept reconciliation alive. They have promoted an additional sixth crossing point between the two sides at Ledra-Lokmaci. They have established a new secondary school for Greek Cypriots in Karpas despite the absence of Greek Cypriot reciprocity schooling opportunities for Turkish Cypriots in the south.

Turkish Cypriots have established a tribunal approved by the European Court of Human Rights to adjudicate Greek Cypriot property claims in the north. Greek Cypriots have not reciprocated with an impartial property tribunal to hear Turkish Cypriot claims in the south. Turkish Cypriot President Talat, nevertheless, declared last month: "I believe a settlement to be in the interests of my people, of the Greek Cypriots, of the island as a whole and of the European Union and the wider international community."

The United States and EU should give Greek Cypriot President Christofias a reason to be equally enthusiastic. They should end the economic purgatory of Turkish Cypriots.

Bruce Fein is a resident scholar at the Turkish Coalition of America and chairman of the American Freedom Agenda.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbc ... COMMENTARY

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The Associated PressPublished: April 3, 2008



Cypriot soldiers in plain clothes on Thursday remove a guard post, next to a UN-controlled buffer zone, in order to open a crossing point at Ledra Street in Cyprus's divided capital of Nicosia. (Petros Karadjias/The Associated Press)


Ledra Street crossing opens in Cyprus



NICOSIA, Cyprus: Greek and Turkish Cypriot authorities reopened the divided capital's Ledra Street on Thursday — but were forced to close it for nearly two hours following a dispute over how the street should be policed.

Authorities temporarily closed the southern entrance to the crossing on Ledra Street, a central Nicosia shopping district that has symbolized the partition of the island and had been barricaded for the last 44 years.

The opening was meant to serve as a catalyst for peace negotiations between Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

But the festive atmosphere quickly soured.

Stefanos Stefanou, a spokesman for the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government, said Turkish Cypriot police illegally patrolled part of the street by entering the U.N.-controlled buffer zone.

"We have been very clear that violations cannot be tolerated," Stefanou told The Associated Press.

The closure ended after scores of protesters gathered on both sides, chanting "Cyprus belongs to its people," and U.N. officials mediated between rival police forces.

"After consultations with the U.N., we have been given assurances that this will not happen again," said Kypros Michailidis, Nicosia's Greek Cypriot police chief.

The brief closure contrasted with the opening ceremony earlier Thursday, when officials from both sides of the divide cut the ribbons of colored helium balloons to mark the occasion. Crews had swept away debris, repaved the street, installed lighting and reinforced abandoned buildings along the 70-meter (230-foot) stretch of Ledra Street that runs through a U.N. controlled buffer zone.

"We managed to turn the world's attention on us today, and hours later we've managed to mess things up," said protester Valentina Sofocleous, who headed a bicommunal citizens' campaign to reopen Ledra Street.

"This is absurd, but we believe it's a problem that will be overcome and that Greek and Turkish Cypriots will live together."

The street in the center of Nicosia's medieval quarter was split in 1964 during an outbreak of communal fighting when British peacekeepers laid barbed wire between the street's Greek and Turkish Cypriot sectors.

Ten years later, the entire island was divided after Turkey's army invaded after a failed coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

Turkish Cypriots relaxed boundary restrictions in 2003, and since then five other crossings have opened. But ID cards or passports are still needed to move between the two sides.

Hopes of reaching a settlement in Cyprus were given a boost earlier this year with the election of Christofias, who replaced a hard-liner and pledged to restart talks with Talat. The two agreed to open Ledra Street during their first meeting last month.

Both men have also agreed to end a four-year stalemate in peace talks and are preparing for full-fledged negotiations.

Christofias said the next step was to agree on pulling back soldiers manning guard posts on either side of the buffer zone inside the capital's center that is ringed by 16th Century Venetian walls.

He also said he would try to open another crossing point near Limnitis in the island's remote northwest.

Some officials had warned against over-optimism during the opening ceremony.

"The road has opened, but the bullet-pocked buildings remind us that there is still a long way to go," Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou said during the initial celebrations.

"Time will tell whether this road will become the avenue for reunification."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/ ... Street.php

[Kikapu]

ReutersPublished: April 3, 2008

Cyprus tears down barricade dividing island

By Michele Kambas and Simon Bahceli

NICOSIA: Greek and Turkish Cypriots pulled down barricades on Thursday separating them for half a century, reopening a street which became a symbol of Cyprus's ethnic partition.

The reopening of Ledra Street was meant to be a step towards ending the island's division, an obstacle to Turkey's membership of the European Union and a source of tension between NATO partners Athens and Ankara.

Hundreds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots crossed Ledra after the 80-metre (262 ft) stretch of road in the main commercial district of Nicosia was opened to pedestrians in a ceremony attended by UN envoys and dignitaries from both communities.

"I couldn't sleep all night. I will walk to St Loukas church (on the Turkish Cypriot side) and light a candle," said Loukia Skordi Salidou, 65.

"My generation is dying. Thank God I'm alive to see this."

An upmarket shopping street on the Greek Cypriot side, Ledra fans out into the alleyways of the Turkish Cypriot quarter to the north of Nicosia in a maze of haberdasheries and fruit markets.

"We all know opening Ledra Street does not mean the Cyprus problem is resolved. There is much more hard work to be done," said Elizabeth Spehar, the chief of mission for the United Nations in Cyprus, at the ceremony.

"But the opening gives us a glimpse of what is possible."

Underscoring unresolved disputes, the presence of Turkish Cypriot police in the disputed U.N.-controlled no-man's-land between the two sides triggered the abrupt re-closure of Ledra on Thursday evening for two hours.

"The checkpoint has now been reopened and terms of the deal (to open it) were restored ... we have been given assurances it will not happen again," said Stefanos Stefanou, a spokesman for the Greek Cypriot-led government.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup. The division of Ledra Street precedes that by some 15 years, when barricades were erected by Turkish Cypriots in 1958. A more permanent roadblock was erected after ethnic strife in 1963.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed last month to relaunch talks, ending a five-year stalemate in reunification efforts.

"By opening this street, we hope the road to a solution to the Cyprus problem will also open," George Iacovou, an aide to Cyprus President Demetris Christofias, told reporters.

REUNIFICATION HOPES

Christofias's election last month, on discontent with his predecessor's hard-line policies towards Turkish Cypriots, raised hopes for a revival of talks stalled since Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification blueprint in a 2004 referendum.

Cyprus joined the EU soon afterwards, gaining veto power over Turkey's accession process. The international community recognises the Greek Cypriot-controlled government in the south as the island's legitimate authority, while the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north is recognised only by Ankara.

The European Commission welcomed the opening of Ledra Street, saying it was an important confidence-building step.

Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are expected to enter full-fledged negotiations this summer, after assessing progress in preparatory talks.

"This is a historic event," said Talat's aide, Ozdil Nami, at the opening. "A small step, but a very important step."

Once known as "murder mile" from the days when Greek Cypriot guerrillas targeted British colonial troops, Ledra cuts through the heart of medieval Nicosia and across the U.N.-patrolled "green line" splitting the city of about 250,000 residents.

On Thursday, peace campaigners on the Turkish Cypriot side of the street welcomed Greek Cypriots by beating drums.

"We want more streets to open until there are no checkpoints left," said Turkish Cypriot labourer Ahmet Jemal, 53.

(Writing by Dina Kyriakidou; editing by Myra MacDonald

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/200 ... STREET.php

[Kikapu]

The Associated PressPublished: April 3, 2008

Reopening of Cyprus street raises hope of reunification

NICOSIA: Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital that has come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition, reopened for the first time in 44 years Thursday, raising hopes for a renewed drive to reunify Cyprus.

The authorities tore down plastic and metal barricades before dawn, and hundreds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots streamed across the buffer zone dividing the Turkish Cypriot north from the Greek Cypriot south after a ceremony to officially open the new crossing point.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed to open a crossing there during a meeting last month that revived hopes for an overall peace deal after years of deadlock in negotiations to reunify the island.

"The political will is there from the two leaders, now they have to turn it into a solution," said Peter Millet, British high commissioner in Cyprus.

Officials from both sides of the divide cut the ribbons of colored helium balloons to mark the opening of the street at the end of a ceremony attended by foreign diplomats and UN peacekeepers.

Ledra Street becomes the sixth point at which people can cross between Cyprus' Greek Cypriot south and Turkish-occupied north. But ID cards or passports are still needed to move between the two sides.

Ozdil Nami, aide to the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, said that "almost half a century of division is symbolized" in Ledra Street.

"We are living a historic day today. We are witnessing one of the obstacles to a solution come down," he said.

Ledra Street was split in 1964 during the outbreak of intercommunal fighting - when British peacekeepers laid barbed wire across the street between Nicosia's Greek and Turkish Cypriot sectors. Ten years later, the island was divided when Turkey invaded in response to a short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.

Boundary restrictions in divided Cyprus were relaxed by the Turkish Cypriots in 2003. The symbolism in opening Ledra Street injects momentum in a renewed reunification drive, but both sides still have far to go.

"The road has opened, but the bullet-pocked buildings remind us that there still a long way to go," the Nicosia mayor, Eleni Mavrou, said. "Time will tell whether this road will become the avenue for reunification."

Talat and President Dimitris Christofias of Cyprus have already agreed to end a four-year stalemate in peace talks and are preparing for full-fledged negotiations.

"We all know Ledra opening doesn't mean a solution to the Cyprus problem," a UN special representative, Elizabeth Spehar, said. "But it does give us a glimpse when all the elements come together."

The European Commission hailed the opening as signaling a mutual determination by both sides to reunify the island.

"It shows the two sides on the island are ready to put aside the difficulties of the past and work together to bring a comprehensive settlement and reunification to Cyprus," said the EU enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn.

Crews had spent days sweeping away debris, repaving the street and reinforcing abandoned buildings along the 70-meter, or 230-foot, stretch of Ledra Street that runs through a UN-controlled buffer zone, and erected brightly colored strips of canvas on either side of the street to conceal crumbling buildings.

Turkish military patrols in northern Nicosia were moved out of sight.

Crowds of Cypriots who had gathered at both ends of the street began crossing as soon as Ledra reopened. Turkish Cypriot youths chanted pro-peace slogans.

"These are feelings of joy and hope for our common home. Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots," said Andreas Gregoriou, a 45-year-old Greek Cypriot refugee from Famagusta in the Turkish Cypriot north. "This is a historic day."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/03/ ... cyprus.php

[Kikapu]

Published: April 3 2008 17:50

Cypriots reunite as Ledra street reopens

By Andreas Hadjipapas in Nicosia, Kerin Hope in Athens and Vincent Boland in Ankara

Greek and Turkish Cypriots embraced each other and exchanged greetings on Thursday on Ledra Street after its re-opening as a gesture of reconciliation between Cyprus’s two communities. The mood was festive, with shopkeepers on the Turkish Cypriot side offering coffee and pastries to passers-by.

Yasin Kus, owner of a clothing store close to the new border crossing point, said as he put up a price-list in euros: “I’m hoping for a major influx of business from the Greek Cypriot side.”



Ledra Street in Cyprus, a symbolic ethnic divide between the Greek and Turkish sides of the Mediterranean island capital, Nicosia, was reopened after almost half a century as part of reunification efforts

EDITOR’S CHOICE
Cyprus lays to rest ghosts of the disappeared - Mar-26Cyprus leaders attempt to unite island - Mar-20Hopes rise ahead of Cyprus unity talks - Mar-11Cyprus president urged to act fast on unity - Feb-26Editorial Comment: Chance for Cyprus - Feb-25Communist wins Cyprus’ presidential vote - Feb-24Ledra Street, a pedestrian walkway, cuts through a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone in central Nicosia. Sandbags were removed and scaffolding was erected ahead of the opening to protect dilapidated buildings along an 80-metre stretch of “no-man’s land.”

Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, said:”The next step should be the disengagement of forces” along the cease-fire line dividing the Greek and Turkish sides of the capital.

Mr Christofias, who was elected president in February, is actively pursuing a settlement. Bi-communal talks under UN auspices resumed last month after a five-year gap. If the current momentum is sustained, full-fledged negotiations on re-unifying Cyprus could start in July, according to officials.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, said this week that all troops could be withdrawn from Cyprus once the situation there returned to normal.

Turkey has at least 30,000 troops in the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus dating from the 1974 invasion - aimed at preventing the island’s unification with Greece - and pulling them out remains a deeply sensitive issue.

The Turkish government supported the re-opening of Ledra Street. Diplomats said the initiative was easy, compared to the tough decisions Turkey faces on Cyprus in the next few months as it seeks to renew its membership talks with the European Union.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac5d4b1e-019d ... 07658.html