Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 07-03-09

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] PAPADOPOULOS - WALL - DEMOLITION

[02] SPOKESMAN - NICOSIA MAYOR - WALL

[03] CHRISTOFIAS - LEDRA STREET

[04] UN - LEDRA STREET

[01] PAPADOPOULOS - WALL - DEMOLITION

Papadopoulos` statement followed the start a few hours earlier of the demolition of the National Guard wall in this commercial street in the walled city of the capital Nicosia.

The Cypriot President, currently in Brussels for the EU summit, clarified that the demolition of the wall would not lead to opening of a crossing for people to and from the Turkish-occupied area unless the Turkish occupation forces withdraw from the area and mines removed.

President Papadopoulos repeated that the Greek Cypriot sides proposals for the opening of the Ledra Street put forward to the United Nations last year were still valid.

``Now that the check point of the National Guard of the Republic at Ledra Street has been demolished, we will see whether the Turkish troops withdraw to allow the passage to open,`` he said, adding that this move had been planned some fifteen days ago.

Papadopoulos said that ``to remove any pretext that they (Turks) were ready to open the passage by demolishing the footbridge, tonight we demolished the checkpoint on our side.``

He recalled that what he had repeatedly said in the past was that ``once they (Turks) agree to withdraw the troops, our check point could be removed within 24 hours.``

``Now we shall see whether the Turkish troops will withdraw so that a crossing can open,`` he added, noting that ``of course, if the troops are not withdrawn and the buildings on either side of the street are not reinforced, there cannot be a passage to allow people to cross.``

Papadopoulos recalled that in December 2005 ``we submitted proposals to UNFICYP for the opening of eight crossing points`` across the dividing line in Cyprus.

Two of them are already in operation, one near Ledra Palace, in Nicosia, the other one outside Astromeritis, west of Nicosia, but the Turkish Cypriots were not prepared to open more crossing points.

``We eventually submitted another proposal for the opening of the Ledra Street, where as you know the check points are not more than 50 yards away from each other. We said that we were prepared to open on our side when the buildings on either side of the street would be strengthened and possible mine fields will be lifted and the most important condition, the Turkish troops should be withdrawn from the area,`` the Cypriot President noted.

He said the Greek Cypriot side had proposed that military forces should be withdrawn 100 yards away from the check points or in the alternative that the whole of the walled city of Nicosia should be demilitarised.

Recalling that the occupation regime started building a footbridge across the street, Papadopoulos said ``we were told that Turkish troops refused to withdraw, they were resisting on carrhying petrols. Therefore everybody understood that it would be impossible for civilians to cross there.``

It was meant to be an act of confidence building measure and we realized that if civilians had to pass through armed Turkish occupation troops, instead of being a confidence building measure it would be a source of friction, he added.

Papadopoulos said ``They (Turks) thought by building this footbridge that Turkish troops would be patrolling underneath the bridge while the civilians would be going over the bridge. Of course, that was unacceptable to us and discussions were going on for a long time.``

``Eventually, I think under pressure from Turkish Cypriot shop owners Mehmet Ali Talat (Leader of the Turkish Cypriot community) demolished the footbridge,`` he said adding that Turkish troops were annoyed by this.

``All the time they were saying they had made a big gesture by removing a footbridge which they unnecessarily built. They wanted to get credit for doing a very important act. But all along we were insisting that the main reason why the passage was not opened was the existence of Turkish troops,`` President Papadopoulos said.

[02] SPOKESMAN - NICOSIA MAYOR - WALL

He clarified that the wall was being dismantled but the citizens would not be allowed to cross unless the Turkish occupation forces were withdrawn from the area, a precondition put forward to the United Nations last year. Pasiardes explained that the demolition of the wall was not a ``surprise move`` but it followed long consultations with the occupation regime through the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou also visited the area. She expressed the hope that the Turkish side would respond positively on security matters, thus allowing the unhindered crossing of citizens from both sides of the divide.

Police had cordoned off the area.

In December, the occupation regime dismantled a footbridge on the other side of the wall from where the Cypriot authorities were now removing the concrete barrier. The Cypriot government had protested at the time, saying security issues had to be considered before the bridge could be demolished.

[03] CHRISTOFIAS - LEDRA STREET

Speaking during a visit to the site, Christofias said the National Guard was ready to move away from the area, and called on all those who welcomed the demolition of a bridge erected by the Turkish side, to turn to Turkey and the occupation army in order to secure the preconditions for opening the street to pedestrians.

Christofias expressed hope that the opening of Ledra Street would help create good will in order to promote the 8 July 2006 agreement.

He said that from now on "the next steps are the most substantive" as they concern "the safety of the people passing and of course the necessity for disengagement, even the demilitarisation of the area."

Christofias said Ledra Street could not be opened to the public if the Turkish troops did not withdraw from the area, noting that the National Guard was ready to step back.

[04] UN - LEDRA STREET

In a statement, Moller assures that UNFICYP is assisting both sides with the practical arrangements to move this process forward and to help implement the necessary measures to expedite progress.

Moller ``warmly welcomes last night`s removal of the wall at the southern end of the buffer zone dividing Ledra Street,`` noting that ``the overnight demolition of the Ledra Street wall in Nicosia`s old town represents a very welcome and positive contribution of great symbolic significance both to efforts to open a crossing point at this historic location and to create a positive atmosphere in which the search for a comprehensive settlement can flourish.``

The UN official notes that ``once the sides are in agreement as to the way ahead, UNFICYP will immediately move, with EU-funded support from UNDP`s Partnership for the Future, to ensure the area`s overall safety in order to facilitate the opening of the crossing as a matter of priority.``

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