Reports that Turkish Cypriots are being asked to provide additional information when using their Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus identity cards to cross into South Cyprus have also appeared in the Greek Cypriot press.
It was noted that the Greek Cypriot government’s new practice of requesting extra information for crossings into the south has “caused fresh problems between the two communities and, consequently, on the Cyprus issue.”
The Greek Cypriot daily Haravgi newspaper carried the story on its front page under the headlines: “Instead of Opening New Checkpoints, New Obstacles to Crossings – Christodoulides Confronts Holguín with the New Measure of ‘Updating’ Information at the Checkpoints – The Government’s Dangerous Acrobatics at the Barriers.”
The report stated that the Greek Cypriot government’s new measure requiring additional information for crossings “has created new problems between the two communities and, consequently, on the Cyprus issue.”
It further highlighted that, while Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides insisted yesterday that “nothing has changed,” the Greek Cypriot police admitted that there had, in fact, been changes.
The article criticized the lack of a satisfactory explanation from either the Greek Cypriot presidency or the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry beyond Christodoulides’s brief remark that “nothing has changed,” despite the seriousness of the issue.
Haravgi also claimed that the new regulations were introduced unilaterally by the Greek Cypriot government as part of preparations for entry into the Schengen area, without any dialogue with the European Union.
The report additionally noted that, according to Article 10 of the Green Line Regulation, any such changes must be notified to and approved by the European Commission. brt
