Ledra street opens

Ledra street, which was once the commercial thoroughfare of the Nicosia, opened at 9.00 am today for the first time in nearly 40 years. A small ceremony was held to mark the occasion in the presence of a large number of people, including many local and foreign journalists.

EU Commissioner Ollie Rehn in a statement welcomed the opening saying: “I am delighted that the two sides on the island have moved ahead with this important decision to open the Ledra Street crossing. It will bring direct benefits to those living and working in the neighbourhood of Old Nicosia. Even more important is the symbolic value of the opening. It shows the two sides on the island are ready to put aside the difficulties of the past and work together to bring a comprehensive settlement and reunification to Cyprus under the aegis of the United Nations. The European Commission will for its part, fully support both communities on the island in this task.”

While the main editorial in Phileleftheros welcomes the opening of Ledra street saying the more crossing points the better and that pointing to the symbolism of the event, elsewhere in the paper a couple of articles wonder what’s so good about the opening and why is everyone so ecstatic about it. If it’s contact between the two communities that’s been happening since 2003. The truth is that the majority of G/Cs has never been across to the other side or went once and then never again, that the so-called isolated T/Cs managed to triple their per capita income since then, managed to take advantage of the benefits of two states, that the only thing that benefited was increased commercial relations and not so much human relations, that the problems of the refugees multiplied. The most important thing about these last few years was that G/Cs began to accept the ‘realities’ that Denktash has for years been calling for – namley two states, two governments, two peoples, two religions. So if there are more pros than cons why doesn’t someone tell us what they are so we too can celebrate.

Another writer wonders if this is a step towards reunification or partition. The signs are not good. The Turkish army has shown that only if they approve can anything be done in the buffer zone. Talat’s spokesman has said he would increase ‘customs officials’ at Ledra Street. TRNC flags will be put up. Passports and ID cards will be checked. The creation of borders does not reunite the country, it divides it!