CYPRUS: Michael Jansen observed jugbilant scenes as border restrictions were eased yesterday in Cyprus.
The first person to cross the Green Line yesterday was a tiny, bent Turkish Cypriot grandmother carrying a shopping bag filled with packets of Greek coffee and a chunk of cheese.
Hanum Fikryat Ahmet Mavroupi, who lives in the sole remaining Turkish Cypriot village in the republic, was going to visit her family, cut off when the Turkish army occupied the north in 1974. She was followed by hundreds of Greek Cypriots going north and at least 3,000 Turkish Cypriots going south.
The open-border policy declared on Monday, took everyone by surprise. When Hanum Fikryat turned up at the Turkish checkpoint at 7.30 in the morning she had to wait until 11.00 to enter because the police on duty did not know what to do.
Greek Cypriot police were equally baffled. This was the first time the two communities had freedom of movement on Aphrodite's island for nearly 30 years. Mr Kultay Erk, the mayor of northern Nicosia, said: "It's a historic day. I believe the events which follow will change the status quo and make way for meaningful negotiations. This is not a simple event. I hope both sides look at it as an opportunity, not a threat."
A Greek Cypriot motorcyclist said: "I just want to drink a coffee on the other side."
Many others had the same idea. Greek Cypriot day-trippers came in cars, bought insurance from a kiosk next to the Turkish Cypriot checkpoint, then drove to their native villages, not seen since the Turkish army invaded the island.
"I want to go as an owner, not a visitor," said one woman sadly. Two Turkish Cypriot girls were planning to go to McDonald's. Mr Haman Urem, a Turkish Cypriot economist, crossed, shopped and returned with a bag of Turkish delight made in Greek Cyprus. "This is not as dramatic as the fall of the Berlin wall, but it can be compared to that event," he said. "I like my freedom."
A young Turkish Cypriot called Mustafa rode on his bicycle to the Nicosia District Office in the republic to collect his renewed passport. While in London as a student he had obtained a passport from the Cyprus embassy. "Now I can come over here to get a job. There are no jobs for me in the north," he said. Mustafa was delighted with the sudden change of policy by the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration which, he agreed, amounts to renunciation of separatism.
Two Dublin police officers, Garda Alice Tierney and Garda Olive Neville, based in the buffer zone between the checkpoints, were on duty throughout the day. Garda Neville said: "I've never seen anything like it while policing in Ireland.
"It's so good-humoured. There's been no friction."
Dr Marios Matsakis, a maverick member of parliament for the centre-right Democratic Party, said: "I have mixed feelings about today, more for the good than the bad. This is the beginning of the fall of the wall separating Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
"It has been a pointless separation. If they allow the people to decide, this would be their solution. Of course, all this is happening because of the EU. By May 1st, 2004 [the day it enters the EU], Cyprus will be reunited."
Dr Matsakis said he met for an hour with Mr Serdar Denktash, author of the open-border policy and son of the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader. "While he is cautious and confused [about the opening], he stressed the importance of direct communication and the need to leave the past and build for the future."