Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday asked for notification to be given in advance of any procedural changes in how Cyprus’ crossing points operate after rumours of law changes stemming from a software update on the Republic’s side of the nine crossing points led to panic among Turkish Cypriots the previous day.

“No one has the right to create uncertainty for our people,” he told newspaper Kibris, adding that crossing points are “an issue which concerns both sides”.

“Crossing points are two-sided and concern both sides. It is essential that information be provided regarding every regulation and every project undertaken. Otherwise, unnecessary tensions, such as the uncertainty experienced [on Tuesday], will be created. You cannot play games with the crossing points,” he said.

He added that those uncertainties “carry the danger of driving the two peoples further apart and deepening distrust” and said that the crossing points themselves “should serve to build trust, not to create a crisis”.

In addition, he said, such tensions could “lead to misunderstandings” during talks as we strive to open new crossing points.

“The goal should be to develop a culture of collaboration. More collaboration contributes to building trust between the sides. Developments like the incident which occurred [on Tuesday] have the opposite effect,” he said.

As such, he added, President Nikos Christodoulides “should be more sensitive to these issues” and “should avoid practices which will lead to misunderstandings”.

Rumours had abounded on Tuesday that the Republic had banned Turkish Cypriots from crossing with identity cards issued by the ‘TRNC’, though it transpired later in the day that this was not the case.

A police spokesman told the Cyprus Mail that the rules governing which documents Turkish Cypriots can use to cross between the island’s two sides, including those issued by the ‘TRNC’, remain unchanged.

It was later revealed that new software had caused it to appear on databases that those crossing between the island’s two sides were doing so for the first time, and that as such, those crossing with ‘TRNC’-issued identity cards would be required to prove they had the right to cross as they did the first time they crossed.

The spokesman had said on Tuesday that with this in mind, the Republic’s police are now manually recording information present on ‘TRNC’-issued identity cards presented by crossing Turkish Cypriots, with this leading to some delays in crossings.

This manual recording is also because ‘TRNC’-issued identity cards cannot be scanned by the machinery used at the Republic’s crossing point booths.