XPost: alt.languages.greek, alt.news.macedonia, soc.culture.greek   
   From: christes00k@optonline.net   
      
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   Barricade Down Along Nicosia Street   
   Published: 4/3/08, 9:26 AM EDT   
   By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS   
   NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided   
   capital that had come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition, reopened for   
   the first time in 44 years Thursday, boosting hopes for a renewed drive to   
   reunify Cyprus.   
      
   Authorities tore down plastic and metal barricades before dawn, and hundreds   
   of Greek and Turkish Cypriots streamed across the buffer zone dividing the   
   Turkish Cypriot north from the Greek Cypriot south after a ceremony to   
   officially open the new    
   crossing point.   
      
   "We are living a historic day today. We are witnessing one of the obstacles to   
   a solution come down," said Ozdil Nami, aide to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet   
   Ali Talat. "It also symbolizes for me that when Turkish Cypriots and Greek   
   Cypriots can overcome    
   their fears, ... they can overcome long-standing disputes and arguments," he   
   said during a ceremony to open the street.   
      
   It was the sixth crossing point to reopen since Turkish Cypriots on the   
   ethnically divided island relaxed boundary restrictions in 2003. Anyone with   
   an ID card or passport can use the crossing points to go between the Turkish   
   and Greek Cypriot parts of    
   the island.   
      
   Ledra Street was split in 1964 during the outbreak of intercommunal fighting -   
   when British peacekeepers laid barbed wire across the street between Nicosia's   
   Greek and Turkish Cypriot sectors.   
      
   Ten years later, the island was divided when Turkey invaded in response to a   
   short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.   
      
   Talat and New Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias have already agreed to end   
   a four-year stalemate in peace talks - setting up working committees for   
   full-fledged negotiations.   
      
   Christofias' aide, George Iacovou, said leaders would "try our best" to reach   
   a reunification deal as soon as possible.   
      
   "We all know Ledra opening doesn't mean a solution to the Cyprus problem,"   
   U.N. Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar said. "But it does give us a   
   glimpse when all the elements come together."   
      
   Officials from both sides of the divide Thursday cut ribbons to colored helium   
   balloons to mark the opening of the street at the end of a ceremony attended   
   by Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials as well as U.N. peacekeepers.   
      
   "The road has opened, but the bullet-pocked buildings remind us that there   
   still a long way to go," Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou said. "Time will tell   
   whether this road will be come the avenue for reunification."   
      
   Crews spent days sweeping away debris, repaving the street and reinforcing   
   abandoned buildings along the 230-foot stretch of street that runs through a   
   U.N. controlled buffer zone - transforming the weed-strewn strip.   
      
   Turkish military patrols in northern Nicosia were also moved out of sight.   
      
   Crowds of Cypriots who had gathered at both ends of the street began crossing   
   as soon as Ledra reopened. Turkish Cypriot youths chanted peace slogans.   
      
   "These are feelings of joy and hope for our common home," said Andreas   
   Gregoriou, a 45-year-old Greek Cypriot refugee from Famagusta in the Turkish   
   Cypriot north. "This is a historic day."   
      
   But some were less jubilant.   
      
   "This is just another crossing. Another crossing has opened, nothing more,"   
   said Costas Andreou, 70, a refugee from Kythrea in the north. "Let's hope for   
   better days soon, before we die."   
      
   One elderly Greek Cypriot man became disgruntled when he was turned back from   
   the Turkish Cypriot checkpoint because his old ID card didn't carry an English   
   translation.   
      
   "I'm not going to miss anything," he muttered as he walked back.   
      
   ___   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
Barricade Down Along Nicosia Street
   
   
Published: 4/3/08, 9:26 AM EDT
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
   
   
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus'    
   divided capital that had come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition,    
   reopened for the first time in 44 years Thursday, boosting hopes for a renewed    
   drive to reunify Cyprus.
   
   
Authorities tore down plastic and metal barricades before dawn, and   
   hundreds    
   of Greek and Turkish Cypriots streamed across the buffer zone dividing the    
   Turkish Cypriot north from the Greek Cypriot south after a ceremony to    
   officially open the new crossing point.
   
   
"We are living a historic day today. We are witnessing one of the obstacles    
   to a solution come down," said Ozdil Nami, aide to Turkish Cypriot leader   
   Mehmet    
   Ali Talat. "It also symbolizes for me that when Turkish Cypriots and Greek    
   Cypriots can overcome their fears, ... they can overcome long-standing   
   disputes    
   and arguments," he said during a ceremony to open the street.
   
   
It was the sixth crossing point to reopen since Turkish Cypriots on the    
   ethnically divided island relaxed boundary restrictions in 2003. Anyone with   
   an    
   ID card or passport can use the crossing points to go between the Turkish and    
   Greek Cypriot parts of the island.
   
   
Ledra Street was split in 1964 during the outbreak of intercommunal   
   fighting    
   - when British peacekeepers laid barbed wire across the street between   
   Nicosia's    
   Greek and Turkish Cypriot sectors.
   
   
Ten years later, the island was divided when Turkey invaded in response to   
   a    
   short-lived coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece.
   
   
Talat and New Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias have already agreed to    
   end a four-year stalemate in peace talks - setting up working committees for    
   full-fledged negotiations.
   
   
Christofias' aide, George Iacovou, said leaders would "try our best" to   
   reach    
   a reunification deal as soon as possible.
   
   
"We all know Ledra opening doesn't mean a solution to the Cyprus problem,"    
   U.N. Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar said. "But it does give us a    
   glimpse when all the elements come together."
   
   
Officials from both sides of the divide Thursday cut ribbons to colored    
   helium balloons to mark the opening of the street at the end of a ceremony    
   attended by Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials as well as U.N.    
   peacekeepers.
   
   
"The road has opened, but the bullet-pocked buildings remind us that there    
      
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