Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Friday night said President Nikos Christodoulides is using the matter of crossing points between the island’s two sides as “political blackmail”.
He said Christodoulides is “making our people wait for hours as a method” of this blackmail, and that “this is the sole reason why new crossing points have not been opened”, after queues as long as a kilometre were recorded at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point in western Nicosia this week.
“Instead of opening new crossing points, the Greek Cypriot side is seeking to gain territory, expand its authority into the buffer zone, and gain a military advantage,” he said.
In this, he was referring to the Greek Cypriot side’s proposal for a transit road to be built largely through the buffer zone to connect Athienou with Nicosia and for the road through the Turkish Cypriot exclave of Kokkina to be opened to civilian traffic.
“We have not allowed and will not allow the Greek Cypriot authorities to enter the buffer zone or enter even a centimetre of Kokkina,” he said.
He added that he had unveiled his proposal for a crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia two years ago, and that the proposal had been prepared in collaboration with the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce and chamber of industry, and that it had also won the support of the Cyprus chamber of commerce and industry (Keve).
“The international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, welcomed our proposal,” he said.
He also pointed out that he had made efforts for a crossing point to be opened to connect the village of Louroujina, which is in the north, with nearby Lymbia, with both villages being located between Nicosia and Larnaca.
He said that at the informal dinner which he attended with Christodoulides and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York last October, “it was stated that a federation had ceased to be common ground, and an agreement was reached to open new crossing points”.
“However, as soon as [Christodoulides] returned to the island, he once again brought maximalist impositions to the table. We encountered the same intransigent attitude at the summits in Geneva in March and in New York in July,” he said, in reference to the two enlarged meetings on the Cyprus problem which have taken place so far this year.
“The sole reason for the problems we are experiencing at the crossing points today is this policy of blackmail. We were the ones who took sincere steps for our people. It is the Greek Cypriot side which is obstructing the process,” he said.
On this matter, he took umbrage with comments made by some in the Turkish Cypriot opposition, who suggested that issues related to crossing points may be alleviated if Tatar loses the forthcoming Turkish Cypriot leadership election, which is set to take place on October 19.
The most notable opposition voice to suggest a change in the Turkish Cypriot community’s highest office may create better conditions at the crossing points was Fikri Toros, the foreign relations secretary of the CTP, the party which opposition election candidate Tufan Erhurman leads.
“The ever-increasing difficulties and long queues at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point have made daily life unbearable for our people. This situation damages not only individuals but also inter-communal trust and economic and social relations. This situation will change when Tufan Erhurman is president,” he said.
“As a result of effective dialogue and consultations with the Greek Cypriot leader, the UN, and the European Commission, the problems experienced at all crossing points, especially Ayios Dhometios, will be permanently resolved.”
This, he said, will “not only eliminate queues, but will also bring many innovative steps which will increase mutual trust among communities and make daily life easier”.
“Thanks to these steps, our people will have a freer, more comfortable, and more secure future. The time has come for a change,” he said.
Tatar’s response to this was to insinuate that the Turkish Cypriot opposition is secretly working in cahoots with the Greek Cypriot side.
“This approach amounts to complicity in the Greek Cypriot side’s blackmail policies. If you do not have a secret engagement, do not support their stance. If you have an alliance with them, come and tell our people honestly,” he said.
He added that “populist claims of ‘if I am elected, everything will be okay’ are northing more than serving and normalising the Greek Cypriot side’s rigid politics”.
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