Tatar reaffirms support for Mia Milia crossing point
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday reaffirmed his support for a new crossing point to be opened in Mia Milia, on the eastern edge of Nicosia. Speaking after a meeting with Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci, he said a c
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday reaffirmed his support for a new crossing point to be opened in Mia Milia, on the eastern edge of Nicosia.
Speaking after a meeting with Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci, he said a crossing point in Mia Milia would be “important in terms of expanding the volume of trade” between the Republic and the north, while also “relieving the congestion at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point”.
To this end, he pointed out that at present, a total of 65 per cent of all crossings made by vehicle are made at Ayios Dhometios.
“Opening the Mia Milia crossing point will provide great benefits and advantages,” he said, adding that he had discussed the matter “many times” with officials from the United Nations, including with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He added that Guterres had “wished for the issue to be resolved” and that this gave him “courage”.
He also raised the issue once more of what he perceives as a difference in opinion with the Greek Cypriot side regarding the purpose of the crossing point, saying he “could not accept the Greek Cypriots’ proposal for ‘transit roads’”.
“Transit roads” is the term he has given to what he believes is the Greek Cypriot side’s aim to open what would effectively be transit roads connecting the Republic with other parts of the Republic, namely in Athienou and Kokkina.
His comments on the crossing points come a day after President Nikos Christodoulides had told UN special representative Colin Stewart he is “ready” to discuss the opening of new crossing points with Tatar, and put forward three potential dates for a meeting to take place on the matter.
Stewart also met with Tatar on Tuesday, and Tatar said on Wednesday that in their meeting, they had touched on the matter of a potential expansion of the Ayios Dhometios crossing point.
He said work has been carried out on the northern side of the crossing point to widen the road, but that “traffic flow in the south is still single file”.
“Work must be carried out in the south to facilitate faster crossings, and I conveyed this to Colin Stewart yesterday,” he said.
Additionally, he raised the matter of the proposed road between the buffer zone village of Pyla and the nearby village of Arsos in the north.
He said objections had been raised to the construction of the road “on the grounds that the route passed through the buffer zone”, and that “despite a year having passed since the incident, the people of Pyla are still suffering from transportation issues”.
“On the other hand, I drew attention to the fact that no objections were received from anyone when the road between Pyla and Larnaca was built,” he said.
The “incident” to which Tatar referred took place in August last year, and saw Turkish Cypriot personnel enter the buffer zone with the intention of building the road and forcing their way past UN peacekeepers who were intent on holding them back.
One peacekeeper was punched in the face and multiple vehicles were rendered “undriveable” after being “violently pushed back” during the incident.
After two months of negotiations, a mutual understanding was found between the island’s two sides for the road to be built with a Turkish Cypriot checkpoint stationed north of the buffer zone and another checkpoint located within the buffer zone.
In addition, 400 plots of land north of Pyla were set to be turned into residential properties, while a large solar farm was set to be built in a vacant area northwest of the village.
However, just weeks later, the UN requested that works be put on hold after reports surfaced in the Turkish Cypriot media that Greek Cypriot construction workers had “encroached on TRNC territory”, while Turkish Cypriot Pergamos mayor Bulent Bebek said soldiers and police had been mobilised in the area to prevent anyone from entering.
A total of 13 months have passed since the works were put on hold, with no works in the area having since resumed.
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