Ledra Street
The Ledra Street (Greek οδός Λήδρας " Odos Lidras "; türk Lokmacı Kapisi; . Engl Ledra Street) is a street in the old town of Nicosia and has been divided since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
The longer Greek Cypriot southern part of the street is a busy shopping street, where many international chains are represented. Your southern end is located at Liberty Square ( " Πλατεία Ελευθερίας " ) at the edge of the ring-shaped walled Old City. The much shorter Turkish northern part of the Ledra Street is separated from the south by here about 50 meters wide UN buffer zone. Since April 2008, consists of a road border crossing for pedestrians between the two parts of the city.
History
Division
Before independence in 1960, the Ledra Street was for some years known for terrorist acts of the Greek underground movement EOKA against the presence of British and was therefore as "Murder Mile" ( Murder Mile ) refers.
Following clashes between the Greek and Turkish populations in late 1963, the street was blocked off for the first time; first with barbed wire. 1964 sent the United Nations Peacekeeping Force UNFICYP on the island. With the so-called "Green Line" Nicosia was divided into east-west direction, of which the central Ledra Street was affected. In the summer of 1974, Turkish troops occupied the northern part of the island. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was proclaimed in the Turkish-occupied north of the island. In the following decades, the Ledra Street has become one of the most important symbols for the division of the island.
Reopening
2003 Northern Cyprus opened its border to the south with an initial five transitions. On 18 November 2004, the Republic of Cyprus began with the unilateral evacuation of mines in the so-called death zone. On 16 December 2004 the Republic of Cyprus informed about the United Nations of Northern Cyprus to want to open the Ledra Street The resolution 1728 of the UN Security Council of 15 December 2006 suggested opening additional border crossings, " including the Ledra Street " to. On 9 March 2007 destroyed Greek Cypriots protest a cement barrier between the southern part of the road and the buffer zone, which was then replaced by a barrier of aluminum.
In February 2008 Dimitris Christofias won the presidential election of the Republic of Cyprus against the conservative incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos. On 21 March 2008 announced Christofias and the President of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, at the opening of the border at the Ledra Street.
On April 3, 2008 by nine local clock of the border crossing at the Ledra Street was opened. The Mayor of the Greek Cypriot southern part of the city, Eleni Mavrou, and the mayor of the Turkish Cypriot north, Cemal Metin Bulutoğluları, crossed together the UN buffer zone. On the evening of the opening day, the crossing point of police of the Republic of Cyprus was closed again, since Turkish troops would cross the border in uniform, after a few hours, the limit was however reopened.
Current importance
From the symbol of the division of the road has become a symbol of unity and is actively used, albeit mainly by tourists and walkers. Most Cypriots prefer the motorized transfer to other transitions. Before the division of the road was the main shopping street, a role they probably will not take them anymore because of the shopping centers on greenfield sites. But it is after the opening of the most popular shopping area of the city with numerous coffee houses. At larger shops the department store Debenhams exists (formerly Woolworth ), which was recently renovated.
Making the transition
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus regarded the passage as entry. Therefore, the site is designed as a border crossing and regularly staffed by police officers. Each visitor has his passport to enter Added to that, the number is registered and stamped with a visa for 90 days. The Republic of Cyprus does not consider the checkpoint as a boundary, there is no regular checks. Only a small police station was established at the Ledra Street in a former retail store, break up from where customs officials to randomly catching shopping bags, because the import is limited to the customs territory of the EU, but use many Greek Cypriots for the price gap at an affordable purchase.