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Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias reached the deal in a meeting in the UN buffer zone in Cyprus, UN representative Taye-Brook Zerihoun announced after the talks. Yesterdays meeting was the 34th such gathering since September. The talks are aimed at forging an agreement on reunification of the island, divided since 1974.
The UN envoy said the Yeşilırmak (Limnitis) crossing, in the islands remote northwest, will operate like six other crossing points across the no-mans land dividing the Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south that have opened since 2003. The deal also encompasses overland access and electricity supply to the tiny Turkish Cypriot enclave of Erenköy (Kokkina) on the islands northern coast.
No exact date for the crossing opening was announced. Christofias said it will “take some time yet” while infrastructure work is completed.
The Yeşilırmak crossing will link the Turkish Cypriot land to Erenköy, a 19-square-kilometer coastal strip in the northwest of the island. It is surrounded by Greek Cypriot territory and has no land link to Turkish Cyprus. A small Turkish military unit is deployed in Erenköy, and the area has no civilian population. Turkish Cypriot leaders say the crossing will facilitate the travels of families of troops deployed in Erenköy. Those who wanted to visit Erenköy have so far had no choice but to take a boat there.
The deal does not allow the transfer of military equipment through the crossing. Greek Cypriot authorities are also warming to the idea of allowing civilian settlement in Erenköy, Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday. But it will take at least six months before any civilian settlement begins in the area, while necessary infrastructure work such as building a highway and installing power lines is completed.
European Commission President Manuel Barroso urged both leaders on Thursday to open the crossing in order to “send a good signal” and quash growing public doubt over the talks chances for success. “Ordinary Cypriots, they ask themselves ‘how can they (the leaders) achieve a comprehensive settlement if they cannot agree on such a specific issue?” Barroso said during his one-day visit to the island. | 
