Hundreds of people from both sides of divided island flocked to the opening of Nicosia’s Ledra Street crossing

Grandfather Nicos Georgiades had to wait nearly 45 years before he could return to the spot where he used to ride his bike as a boy before the barricades went up and divided the Cyprus capital. His childhood memories flooded back as Nicos joined thousands of Cypriots – both Greek and Turkish – who crowded Nicosia’s medieval Old Town for the reopening of the Ledra Street crossing which has long symbolized conflict on the eastern Mediterranean island.

Perched atop his grandfather’s shoulders, young Nicolas could probably be forgiven for not fully understanding the significance of the moment as he focused on his ice cream. But for Nicos, now 66, the symbolism was powerful. “I walked down this street when I was a boy. I rode my bicycle here. That was a long time ago. Now I am looking forward to taking my grandson along the same street” Nicos said of the 7-year-old. “It will be very special for me”. He was among the hundreds of people who thronged both sides of the UN-controlled buffer zone to witness the opening of the crossing, while scores more craned to see the spectacle from balconies, windows and rooftops.

Greek-Cypriot uniformed police and plain-clothed officers mingled with spectators as dozens of journalists and camera crews broadcast the event across the world.

Ledra Street, once dubbed Murder Mile after a spate of shootings there by guerrillas in the late 1950s, was split in two in 1963 after violence flared between the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities. But people streamed through the crossing in the no man’s land between the two sectors, less than than 100 meters (yards) apart, after it was officially reopened. In the Turkish-occupied north, hundreds of people gathered, beating drums and chanting songs of peace – some weeping with joy – while the Mayors from both communities enjoyed coffee and cake together on the Greek-Cypriot free side.

The reopening underpins a new climate of trust after years of stalemate following the collapse of a UN peace plan in 2004 which failed when Greek Cypriots voted against it in a referendum. Following the election of Communist Greek-Cypriot Dimitrios Christofias as President of the Cyprus Republic in February, peace moves with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat gained new momentum.

Retired fireman Achilleas Kazakaios, 70, was displaced from his home in northern area of the Cyprus Republic, when Turkish forces invaded and seized a third of the country in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island in 1974. “I have been a refugee in my own country for more than 30 years now” the Greek Cypriot said. “I came here today because the reopening of Ledra Street, I hope, marks a significant step forward in the process to find a solution” in Cyprus.

Demetris Costantinou, 73, said: “I experienced the war and troubles in 1963 so I came here to see exactly the opposite – the reunion of the people and the city. This island can be a paradise if we can move on from the problems of the past”.

UPDATED > Nicosia crossing closed again

Cyprus shut a symbolic checkpoint on Nicosia’s Ledra Street, just hours after it was opened for the first time in almost half a century. Cyprus’ Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou indicated that the crossing had been closed because Turkish-Cypriot police illegally entered the United Nations buffer zone. A UN spokesman told Reuters that the organization was still trying to establish what happened.