Athienou Mayor Kyriacos Kareklas written to President Nicos Anastasiades setting out the benefits of opening the Pyroi crossing point.
In his letter, Kareklas says that since the Turkish invasion the municipality has been suffering the consequences, with the commuting time to Nicosia now being about an hour, while it would only take a few minutes if access was given through the Turkish occupied areas, while the vehicles are doing more mileage and thus suffer more wear and tear.
Furthermore, he points out, students are obliged to rent accommodation in Nicosia, whereas with the opening of the crossing point they could still live at home and cut costs. Kareklas also notes the benefits on traffic to Nicosia.
The Mayor says in his letter that the current distance is detrimental in cases of emergency.
He also notes that other communities would benefit from the opening of the crossing point.
Kareklas thus calls on President Anastasiades, in the light of efforts to resume talks to solve the Cyprus problem, to insist on opening the Pyroi crossing point.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
(Cyprus News Agency)
