NICOSIA: Rusty barbed wire, abandoned buildings and military checkpoints are visible symbols of the Mediterranean island’s decades-long partition but moves to reopen a major shopping street in Cyprus’s divided capital are bringing signs of change.

Conflict between the island’s Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities has kept Ledra Street, in the heart of Nicosia, closed for more than four decades.

The Greek Cypriot mayor of Nicosia, Michalakis Zampelas, hopes that Cyprus’s version of the Berlin Wall will come tumbling down with the reopening of Ledra Street and prove a catalyst for change.

“In my eyes it will be the beginning of reunification, it will be the reunification of Nicosia. It sends a strong

message for the future and I hope the politicians will see that message,” Zampelas told AFP.

“It’s the last divided capital in the world and we cannot remain idle while our heritage is destroyed,” he added.

He said the fact that Turkish Cypriots “pulled down a wall on the other side is very encouraging”.

North of the capital, Turkish Cypriot deputy mayor Semavi Asik agreed there was huge political and historical significance in reopening the thoroughfare.

“This is very important. This wall was there since 1963, it was a symbol of division. We have to knock the wall down and open a gate there and show our willingness to open up our country,” Asik told AFP.

Restoring the street — once known as “Murder Mile” by British troops fighting EOKA militants seeking union with Greece — to its former commercial dominance would also revive the wider area that has become rundown and populated with bars and cheap accommodation.

“We want the old owners of the shops and houses to return and revitalise this walled city and bring back businesses,” said the deputy mayor.

Earlier this week, Turkish soldiers began a unilateral clean-up operation on the northern side of the UN-patrolled Green Line before sappers moved in to check

all unexploded devices had been cleared from Ledra Street.

“A mine-action cell is in the area checking for ordinance as a standard security precaution, UN peacekeepers will also remove rubble and debris from the buffer zone over several days,” UN spokesman Brian Kelly said.—AFP