Cypriots may soon erase symbol of division

By Michele Kambas and Simon Bahceli

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders may soon erase the most potent symbol of the island's division, by reopening a bullet-pocked crossing between the two sides closed for nearly half a century.

Hopes of ending decades of estrangement were revived after last month's election of Cyprus President Demetris Christofias, who has pledged to relaunch reunification talks.

Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have said they will discuss the reopening of the crossing on Ledra Street, a thoroughfare running through Nicosia's old Venetian citadel, after they hold their first meeting on March 21.

"This is the most evocative induction to life in Cyprus and opening the street would be a symbolic step towards reuniting the city and its people," said a western diplomat.

Cyprus was split in two by a 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a coup inspired by Athens. But the seeds of division go back a good deal earlier, to ethnic strife towards the end of British colonial rule, and a power-sharing government which crumbled in 1963, prompting the dispatch of a U.N. peacekeeping force.

Ledra Street was first divided in 1958, when a Turkish Cypriot group erected barriers to stop members of the community shopping at Greek Cypriot stores.

The barriers were dismantled in 1960, only to be thrown up again by the Turkish Cypriot side after intercommunal conflict in late 1963. They briefly came down in 1968, but were quickly re-erected and have remained in place ever since.

Ledra Street now runs across a corridor of abandoned buildings that snakes across Nicosia. The corridor still divides the city, although five other crossing points across the ceasefire line have been opened since 2003.

Nearly fifty years of separation have taken their toll on the part of Ledra Street in no-man's land. Vegetation pierces the masonry of graceful mansions and shops, many of which are on the verge of collapse.

If the checkpoint opens, one of the first tasks will be to shore up buildings in its immediate vicinity. The United Nations will also have to do a sweep for unexploded bombs left during past fighting.

CONTRASTS

The island's long partition has created a two-speed economy. The breakaway Turkish Cypriot north has been under restrictions preventing direct trade with the outside world for decades, while the Greek south is now in the euro zone.

The Greek Cypriot end of Ledra Street is a busy commercial hub, boasting upmarket Chinese restaurants, Starbucks, McDonalds and British retail chains.

"We want a solution, and we hope that opening this street will be a step towards that," said Greek Cypriot shoe shop owner Andreas Yiasemi, 50. "But we want a healthy settlement, not one that will lead us into arguments five years down the road."

Bustling activity abruptly ends about 500 metres down the street, giving way to an eerily quiet strip of land guarded by Greek and Turkish soldiers on both sides, and patrolled by the U.N. in the middle. Then life picks up again, albeit at a much slower pace, on the Turkish Cypriot side.