Ethnically split Cyprus' rival leaders agree to 2 more crossings across island's dividing line

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The rival leaders of the ethnically split island of Cyprus agreed on Monday to open two new crossing points for vehicular traffic along a U.N.-controlled buffer zone in the first such development in nearly a decade.

There are currently nine crossing points along the entire 180-kilometer (120-mile) length of the buffer zone that separates the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from the Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally recognized government is seated.

Long lines of vehicles at some of these checkpoints have been a point of grievance for many, and it’s hoped that the two additional ones in the island’s northwest and southeast will help ease access for thousands who use them daily.

It’s not clear when the new crossing points will open but they will be launched simultaneously.

More notably, the agreement signifies tangible progress in talks between Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman after months of discussions on trust-building measures that it's hoped will pave the way for a resumption of full-fledged negotiations to resolve the island’s ethnic divide.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after supporters of union with Greece mounted a coup backed by the Greek junta then ruling the country.

Turkish Cypriots declared independence in the island’s northern third in 1983, but only Turkey recognizes it and maintains more than 35,000 troops there.

María Ángela Holguín, the personal envoy of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres for Cyprus, had warned in recent interviews to Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot media outlets that a resumption of formal peace talks would be unlikely if the two leaders didn't at least agree to new crossing points.

The announcement came after Christodoulides and Erhurman met with Holguín inside the buffer zone on the capital’s western outskirts. Christodoulides said that the results Thursday could have been “clearly better, more,” but underscored that real progress has been made.

Despite this, deep rifts remain between the two sides. Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the long-held, U.N.-endorsed formula to reunify Cyprus as a federation has been eclipsed and that the only “realistic” arrangement would be two separate states.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that “it is time to accept the reality that there are two separate peoples and two separate states on the island,” and called on others to recognize the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, according to Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

Greek Cypriots reject any notion of formally partitioning the island as well as the key Turkish and Turkish Cypriot demands for a permanent, post-settlement Turkish military presence and military intervention rights ceded to Ankara that they see as existential threats.