Tatar and Harmanci visit Mia Milia in show of support for crossing point
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci on Friday visited Mia Milia in a show of support for the idea of opening a crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb. Tatar and Harmanci, despite represent
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and Turkish Cypriot Nicosia mayor Mehmet Harmanci on Friday visited Mia Milia in a show of support for the idea of opening a crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb.
Tatar and Harmanci, despite representing opposing political factions, have found common ground on the matter of a new crossing point, and made clear their intentions while stood in front of a barbed wire fence at the buffer zone in Mia Milia.
“They are accusing us of not taking any steps, of not responding, and of having an uncompromising attitude, and I am here today to respond to them,” Tatar began.
He added that the issue of crossing points is “constantly on the agenda” and that it was discussed at his informal dinner with President Nikos Christodoulides and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in October.
“We said we would approach it positively, but three months have passed, and no agreement has been reached. I came here today to meet with the local people and to conduct an on-site inspection. Opening a crossing point here will benefit the country,” he said.
Harmanci said his municipality “has the ability to provide all kinds of support for the opening of a new crossing point”, and said that he has been calling for a new crossing point in Cyprus’ capital city since 2015.
“We are reiterating our demand for a crossing point in Mia Milia. Nicosia needs a new crossing point to be opened. Opening every possible crossing point in Nicosia will contribute to a solution to the Cyprus problem … If this is one of the most suitable points, and it will contribute to trade and civilian crossings, it must be opened as soon as possible,” he said.
Tatar had announced a week prior that he would meet Christodoulides to discuss crossing points on either January 20 or January 21, though government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou swiftly denied that such a date had been set, telling the Cyprus Mail, “we do not have anything yet, we have not been informed of such a date”.
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.
He 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.
Shortly after the informal dinner, Tatar had said he was “ready” to open the Mia Milia crossing point, saying he had discussed the matter with the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel.
The result of the discussion with Ustel, he said, was that “a road can be built in Mia Milia and the crossing point can be prepared”.
To this end, he said the opening of a new crossing point in Mia Milia “will be a very positive development for increasing trade”.
He also said such a crossing point will “ease the traffic congestion” at and around the Ayios Dhometios crossing point.
“The opening of a crossing point at Mia Milia is on the agenda. It would be right to opene up an area of movement which would be beneficial to both peoples” on the island, he said.
Tatar had pushed for the opening of a crossing point in Mia Milia in June 2023, but he had said the proposal met a stumbling block when the Greek Cypriot side suggested that a crossing point be opened in Kokkina.
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