President Ersin Tatar received the Mayor of the Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality (LTB) Mehmet Harmancı and evaluated the developments regarding the opening of new border crossings.

Tatar mentioned that the Greek Cypriot leader did not respond to the proposal to open the Haspolat border crossing for mutual crossings, so an alternative of opening the Akıncılar-Limya border crossing was proposed.

He argued that the Greek Cypriot leader’s transit passage proposal is unacceptable in terms of security, as there is no mutual crossing.

He also expressed concerns about heavy traffic in Lefkoşa due to the increasing number of crossings.

Tatar suggested that the LTB Mayor could consult with the mayor of the other side in shaping proposals for the opening of gates.

Additionally, Tatar stated that the opening of the Haspolat gate for commercial crossings is of interest to the EU.

Mayor Harmancı for his part emphasized the importance of consultation regarding the gates and expressed hope for progress in opening new crossings.