Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots joined their voices on Saturday at the Ledra Palace Hotel under the slogan “We open new roads – We reunite Cyprus”, calling for the opening of new crossing points, facilitation of procedures at the checkpoints and the reunification of Cyprus within the framework of a Bizonal, Bicommunal Federation solution.
The event was held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the first crossing point and the partial lifting of movement.
In two parallel marches starting on either side of the Ledra Street checkpoint, the demonstrators marched towards Ledra Palace in the buffer zone with both Greek and Turkish demonstrators meeting in front of the House of Cooperation.
During the event, the demonstrators shouted slogans in favour of peace and a solution to the Cyprus problem and delivered a statement to the UN.
The statement noted, inter alia, that the current crossing points cannot meet the needs of the people crossing and that formalities and unnecessary procedures create further obstacles to crossings, and that there is therefore an urgent need for simplified and efficient procedures to reduce long queues and bureaucracy.
(Photos by George Christophorou)
