Turkish Cypriots on Friday said they have started to dismantle a
controversial footbridge in downtown Nicosia, an obstacle viewed by
Greek Cypriots to open anew crossing point in the heart of the
divided capital.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat announced Thursday to
remove the footbridge they constructed last year at the northern
end of the UN-controlled buffer zone dividing the commercial Ledra
Street in the old town of Nicosia, as a good-will gesture to
promote trust and cooperation between the two communities.
However, Xinhua correspondent witnessed that some workers only
started to knock down a nearby gate under the bridge for Turkish
soldiers to patrol through, the main structure of the footbridge
remained untouched.
Huseyin Ozel, head of information office of the Turkish Cypriot
authorities, told reporters on the site, "We built it in fifteen
days and it will take us some time to remove it."
A municipal official from the Turkish Cypriot-controlled
northern Nicosia told Xinhua that the footbridge could not be
dismantled immediately, since they have to wait for positive
response from the Greek Cypriot side.
Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has told local media that
once the bridge is demolished and Turkish troops removed from the
area to allow people to cross, the Greek Cypriots are "ready within
24 hours" to knock down the defense wall on their side.
Later Friday, government spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis
announced that they have submitted through the United Nations a
proposal for dialogue with the Turkish Cypriot side, aiming at the
opening of a crossing point at Ledra Street.
"We will not consent to the opening of Ledra Street if all the
obstacles to the smooth crossing are not removed. The dismantling
of the bridge is a positive step but it does not remove all
obstacles," he stressed.
The spokesman clarified that other steps are also needed such as
the de-mining of the area, demilitarization and the removal of
military patrols from the vicinity as well as the removal of
offensive symbols.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily
intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a
group of Greek officers. The walled old city of Nicosia has also
been separated into two parts by the UN-controlled buffer zone.
Currently there are five crossing points between the areas
controlled by the internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus and
the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community in the north.
It will be the sixth access point if the Greek Cypriots
knockdown the defense wall and the Turkish Cypriots dismantle the
footbridge on the Ledra Street.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)
