Cyprus leaders to meet on Jan 20 for talks on new checkpoint crossings

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NICOSIA (Reuters) – Leaders of rival communities in Cyprus will meet on Jan. 20 to discuss opening new crossing points on the ethnically-split island, diplomats and officials said on Friday.

Cyprus has nine crossings along the 180-km (116-mile) ceasefire line that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thousands use them daily with long queues and traffic jams a regular occurrence.

“We are going to this meeting with a constructive stance and hope the same sincere will is shown by the other side to facilitate the objective, which is opening new crossing points,” Konstantinos Letymbiotis, spokesperson for the Greek Cypriot-led government, told state television.

The talks will be between President Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

A U.N. spokesperson confirmed to Reuters the talks would take place at the home of a U.N. envoy to the island in a ‘buffer zone’ straddling opposing sides in the capital Nicosia.

Last month, 13 Greek and Turkish Cypriot political parties endorsed a call for more crossing points, as an essential step to foster greater confidence-building between the sides.

For months, envoys of the two sides have discussed the modalities of opening new checkpoints, which cut through now-military zones and need the agreement of the military.

Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup.

The ceasefire line was completely sealed until April 2003, when Turkish Cypriot authorities opened one crossing, triggering a surge of tens of thousands of Cypriots to areas off-limits to them for decades.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)