New crossing in divided Cyprus to boost peace talks

Estranged Greeks and Turks of Cyprus opened a new crossing along its ceasefire line on Thursday which mediators hope will reinvigorate slow-moving peace talks.
The 4 km stretch of road near Limnitis winding through hills seeks to link one of the most remote regions in the northwestern part of the island in an area hemmed in by the sea, towering mountains and a closely-patrolled truce line dividing the two sides since 1974.
"Today's opening is an encouraging signal … We are witnessing another example of this pursuit of peace and another difficult barrier has gone," said EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule, present at a brief opening ceremony.
The new checkpoint is the seventh between the two sides of a UN-controlled ceasefire line established in 1974. The project was co-funded by the EU and the United States, with financial injections from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.
Argentine peacekeepers monitor a buffer zone in the northwest spanning valleys and mountains and where moufflon, Cyprus's timid and indigenous wild sheep, roam in herds.
Ethnic conflict hit the region, known as Tylliria, in 1964 and the free flow of traffic stopped, followed by the Turkish invasion ten years later.
Speaking on the peak of a mountain with Greek and Turkish villages lying on either side in green valleys below, Fule said of efforts for a settlement: "We will spare no effort to see this happen."
Both sides agree in principle to reunite Cyprus as a two-zone federation. But disagreements reign on issues ranging from power-sharing to the rights of thousands of refugees and how much territory each side will retain in a deal.