Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci on Friday said it is his “ideal” for Nicosia to be brought “to a point where it can be opened to unlimited and mutual crossings” between Cyprus’ two sides.
Speaking to television channel Kanal Sim, he said the opening of a much-discussed crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia would “provide relief” to the capital, given that at present, its only crossing point open to civilian vehicles is at Ayios Dhometios.
He then added that “we are not saying no to a third crossing point either”, and pointed out that discussions had previously been held surrounding the potential opening of a crossing point near the old town’s Paphos gate.
As well as this, he said, discussions had been held for there to be a “merging” of the old ‘Bandabuliya’ municipal market, located in the north, and the Nicosia municipality centre for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, located immediately south of it in the Republic.
He said the Bandabuliya idea was one which had been mentioned in his discussions with Greek Cypriot Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos and his predecessor and current Nicosia district governor Constantinos Yiorkadjis.
A similar idea, he said, had entailed linking the Republic’s Ermou street with the north’s Uray street, with both streets popular evening spots with bars and restaurants in Nicosia’s old town.
Looking ahead to the forthcoming meeting on the matter of crossing points between President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday, he said, “the Republic of Cyprus has been focusing on the Kokkina and Athienou transit points for a long time”.
“The crossing points in Nicosia have been made a slave to these two crossing points. We still think that this can be advanced through different diplomatic channels on the table. Of course, the Louroujina crossing point may also come onto the agenda parallel to these.
“This has also been talked about recently, but we think that this negotiation should be expanded on Nicosia,” he said.
He added that both sides “should negotiate with the intention of solving the problem and opening crossing points”, but noted that if “nothing happens” steps could be taken.
“If nothing happens, a gate that can be opened unilaterally through Omorphita’s Ataturk street can be brought onto the agenda. Therefore, instead of addressing a single dimension, both sides need to negotiate with the intention of truly solving it, with the intention of opening mutual crossing points,” he said.
Ataturk street runs east to west across the heart of northern Nicosia, turning into Saint Hilarion street in Kaimakli.
Turning his attention back to the Mia Milia crossing point, he said he is “absolutely against” the idea of only opening it to commercial vehicles, adding that, “opening as many crossing points as possible will be in the interest of the people of Nicosia and the entire region”.
Mia Milia’s Turkish Cypriot mukhtar Talip Ozdemir also spoke to Kanal Sim on Friday, saying that a crossing point in the suburb will provide a “significant relief in traffic terms”, but adding that “the roads need to be fixed before a crossing point opens”.
“While the crossing point is opened, the village’s roads also need fixing, because people will come and go from here. The current roads are already insufficient, so these roads need to be built before the crossing point is opened,” he said.
“It will be good for us villagers and at least for those coming from Nicosia, Kyrenia, and Famagusta, there will be a more comfortable flow of traffic. The village’s tradesmen will also benefit from the crossing point, but the downside is that I think the price of renting houses and land will increase at an exorbitant rate.”
Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis had said on Thursday the Greek Cypriot side will approach Monday’s meeting with the goal of “results”.
“We already have very specific proposals that we have submitted, we have demonstrated our constructive stance to achieve a positive outcome. However, for there to be a positive outcome, there must be sincere political will on both sides,” he said.
Tatar and Christodoulides are yet to see eye to eye on the matter of crossing points and where they should be opened, with Tatar having criticised the Greek Cypriot side’s approach on the matter in recent weeks.
Tatar has in the past said that while his aim is to open new crossing points linking the Republic and the north, he believes it is the Greek Cypriot side’s aim to open what would effectively be transit roads connecting the Republic with other parts of the Republic.
“We wanted a crossing point at Mia Milia, while the Greek Cypriot side wanted to transit through the Turkish military areas near Athienou and Kokkina. This is unacceptable,” he said.
A crossing point near Athienou, for example, would cut journey times for people from Cyprus’ southeast to Nicosia if connected to another crossing point on the western side of the part of territory held by the north which juts southwards to encompass the village of Louroujina.
Meanwhile, while a crossing point near the Kokkina exclave would make life easier for the residents of the surrounding Greek Cypriot villages, the exclave itself has a civilian population of zero, thus raising questions of whether such a crossing point would be beneficial for Turkish Cypriots.
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