Opening of Limnitis Cyprus crossing months away

The opening of a new checkpoint crossing on the divided island of Cyprus, envisaged as a boost to slow-moving peace talks, will take months, the Turkish Cypriot side said on Monday.
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed in June to open the crossing in a remote mountain region in the island's northwest, a symbolic move long demanded by locals on both sides.
"We hope that after a process which will not take very long, a process which will last some months, the road will open for both communities," senior Turkish Cypriot official Ozdil Nami said during a visit to the crossing of representatives of both sides together with the U.N.'s chief of mission in Cyprus.
The checkpoint, known as Yesilirmak in Turkish and Limnitis in Greek, will be the seventh crossing linking estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots, separated by a U.N.-policed buffer zone splitting the island from east to west.
An ambulance from the Greek Cypriot-controlled south travelled through there on Thursday, the first such crossing in 45 years, cutting what is a three-hour journey to just under two hours, in preparation for the opening of the crossing.
"The road will be repaired and widened so that it becomes a proper, modern road," Cyprus presidential commissioner George Iacovou said during Monday's visit.
Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. The division remains a hurdle to Turkey's EU accession hopes.
"The opening of the Limnitis checkpoint is the start of a big chapter that will bring the two communities closer together," said Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the U.N.'s special representative.
The island's community leaders are negotiating to reunite Cyprus as a bizonal bicommunal federation but are poles apart on issues like the resettlement of thousands of people displaced, power sharing, and territorial adjustments.
After the last meeting in the first round of talks last Thursday, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias expressed disappointment at the slow progress made, after some 40 meetings between the two sides since September last year.
"I was expecting more progress, but this doesn't mean that no progress was made," Christofias said.