Erhurman: No reason to say Mia Milia crossing would only benefit Turkish Cypriots

There is “no understandable reason” to say that a new crossing point in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia would only benefit Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said on Friday.

“It is clear that the Mia Milia and Louroujina crossing points would benefit both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. Especially considering the difficulties experienced at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point, opening a second crossing point for Nicosia in Mia Milia would bring relief to both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” he wrote in a post on social media.

As such, he said, there is “no understandable reason to think that this crossing point would only benefit Turkish Cypriots”, saying that this is especially true at a time when the Turkish Cypriot economy is “shifting towards the south”, with a growing number of Turkish Cypriots spending more time and more money south of the Green Line.

On this front, he said that while the Greek Cypriot side’s suggestion for a road to link Athienou and the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia through the north and the buffer zone is “naturally a necessity for the Greek Cypriots who want to travel between Larnaca and Nicosia”, this fact is “by no means a reason for rejection on our part”.

“We would not be bothered by the fact that the daily lives of Greek Cypriots would be made easier. On the contrary, we would be happy. Therefore, we have tried to find solutions to the various excuses or justifications put forward, and to enable this crossing,” he said.

Regarding those suggestions, he said that a proposal had been put forward for the Turkish Cypriots to build a new road to Aglandjia via the north, and that it had been President Nikos Christodoulides who had rejected this “on the grounds that the Greek Cypriots would prefer not to travel in the north for a long time and would not feel safe”.

A second suggestion, he said, would be for the European Union to finance a road largely through the buffer zone to Aglandjia. He said he had spoken to EU officials about this matter, and that they had been positive towards the idea, but that “Mr Christodoulides did not accept this either”.

He said that “the Greek Cypriot leadership later claimed that there were many former Greek Cypriot properties on the route of the road we said we would build in the north” and that this would cause problems.

In return, he said, he offered to pay the owners of any impacted properties through the Immovable Property Commission, and that Christodoulides rejected this, as well.

“Therefore, contrary to the claims made, we brought forward numerous additional proposals for the road, which would clearly be used mostly by the Greek Cypriots. Although the excuses put forward were exhausted each time, Mr Christodoulides returned to his first position that he could only accept this road if it passed through the buffer zone,” he said.

He said on this point that the difference in distance between a road which passed through the north or the buffer zone would be “negligible” in this case, and also warned that there could be “problematic aspects” to the prospect of building a new road through the buffer zone.

These aspects, he said, include “the passage of many vehicles, traffic control, and the difficulty of intervention in cases of accidents”.

He then pointed out that when he took office in October last year, he “found a map in front of me marking four new crossing points” – in Mia Milia, Louroujina, Athienou, and Aglandjia – all of which had been discussed at the enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem which was held in New York in July last year.

“While we have four crossing points in place, … constantly developing new proposals to resolve the issue of a few hundred metres, to now set this aside and propose discussing new crossing points in addition to these unresolved ones seems like nothing more than throwing a spanner in the works and pushing the matter towards an impossible outcome,” he said.

He added that this is especially true when “you add to this the tireless statements and news reports made day after day”.

“The reason I had not made such a detailed statement on this matter until now is, as I have always said, my sensitivity to not discussing the issue through the media. However, once again, no other option has been left,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said, “we will continue to work sincerely, patiently, seriously, calmly, and resolutely to share what we have said with all our counterparts in the international community, and to strive for a solution with determination”.

His comments come after Christodoulides had on Thursday that “the main issue is not to open a crossing point which only serves Turkish Cypriots”.

“We are ready for Kaimakil and Mia Milia, but at the same time, the road between Athienou and Aglandjia or through Kokkina should be opened, so that Greek Cypriots are also served,” he said, adding that he is “ready for all four crossing points” to be opened.