"I missed you, I missed you," said Mr. λzgül, otherwise known as Divaeli, the well-known basket-maker, opening his hands, seeing the police at the checkpoint at the roadblock on Ledra Street. He had to see them for 463 days, while this roadblock is closed.
And the police treated him with a smile and enthusiasm. "Are you alive; "Live, I did not live", said in Cypriot the 70-year-old from Elia of Morfos, who has been selling traditional baskets in the area of Nicosia for years. He passed almost every day from the roadblock on Ledra Street, before the pandemic, and there are several Greek Cypriot shopkeepers who know him. You will sell all the baskets today, we asked Mr. Divanelli, a nickname because he is a good singer, as he said. "Inshallah" answered us and leaving, loaded with baskets, he sang in Greek "Get up, my doll danced, let me see you and make you happy".
The roadblock on Ledra Street opened at 8 in the morning. Some Greek Cypriots went to buy medicines or something else or just for a walk. A woman of Bulgarian descent, a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus, was going to find a Russian friend who lives in the occupied territories. They will be found for the first time, he said, after the pandemic measures that led to the closure of the roadblocks. Two students from Oman at a university in the Free Zones also visited for the first time in 15 months to see what the area is like after such a long time.
A 20-year-old Turkish Cypriot passed by with his camera. He wanted to see the Eleftherias Square that was completed, while the roadblocks were closed. He would also be with his Greek friends for coffee. He has been seeing them for more than 15 months. "Almost a year and a half. "I am very happy," he told us.
Two T / C photojournalists also went through the roadblock on Ledra Street to do their own reporting, to see what has changed after so long. At the checkpoint of Ledra and correspondents of foreign agencies.
The traffic at the roadblock on Ledra Street is initially sluggish, approximately equal to the number of crossings to and from the occupied areas, in contrast to the roadblock at Agios Dometios where the traffic from the occupied areas to the free areas is higher.
At both of these roadblocks in Nicosia, traffic is expected to increase in the afternoon. A second control canopy has been installed on Ledras Street in order to serve the people faster. In Agios Dometios the control points to the occupied areas are three and from the occupied areas to the free areas two.
Turkish Cypriots passed through Agios Dometios to take their children to school - as they did during the pandemic, since that point was open for specific groups - but also to take a ride in the car, to see what changed. "I am from Limassol, but I have many Greek Cypriot friends. Today I will take a walk, I will go everywhere in Nicosia and around. "Tomorrow I will come to see my friends", said a T / C who went to work with her open truck. For the first time, as he told us, after almost a year and a half.
All T / Cs go through the checkpoints with negative PCR as as they explained they are free and on the T / C side there are not many antigen tests and they do not consider them reliable, so they prefer PCR.
Crossings
The traffic from the roadblock of Agios Dometios from 8 to 11.30 in the morning, according to the police data, was from the occupied areas to the free areas, 162 E / k and 810 T / C and from the free areas to the occupied areas. 282 E / k and 153 T / k.
From the roadblock of Ledra Street, from the T / C to the E / K side, 51 E / K and 42 T / C passed the same period of time, while 114 E / K and 18 T / C moved in the opposite direction.
From Ledra Pallas passed 12 E / k and 107 T / k from occupied to the free areas and from the e / k side to t / k, 9 E / k and 11 T / k.
No problems were observed during the crossings so far. In the morning, a UNFICYP helicopter flew over the dead zone in the area of the roadblock of Agios Dometios.
Source: KYPE