The Pachyammos village council on Sunday demanded that President Nikos Christodoulides set as “a matter of highest priority” the opening of a crossing point into the Turkish Cypriot exclave of Kokkina.

The demand was made in the form of a letter handed to Christodoulides on the sidelines of the service held to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the Battle of Tillyria.

The letter states that the creation of an “access corridor” connecting Pachyammos, which is located immediately southwest of Kokkina, and the village of Mansoura, which is located immediately northeast of the exclave, bears strong “humanitarian importance”.

It adds that such a road “is not simply a political settlement, but primarily an act of justice and support for a community which is struggling to stay alive in the face of adversity”.

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“The village has been experiencing the consequences of geographical, social, and economic isolation for decades as a result of the fact that there is no crossing point in the Kokkina area,” it says.

It then adds that “in addition to the social consequences, this isolation exacerbates the desolation of the area, hinders its prospects for development, and intensifies residents’ feeling of abandonment”.

The village of Kokkina is an exclave completely cut off from the rest of the north, surrounded by the Republic on three sides and by the sea on the other. It now has no civilian population, with its native population having been moved to Yialousa, in the Karpass peninsula, in 1976.

The prospect of a crossing point at Kokkina is one of three suggestions which have been regularly made by the Greek Cypriot side during discussions held regarding the prospect of new crossing points, with a road connecting Athienou with the eastern Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia, and a new crossing point in Nicosia’s old town also having been suggested.

Talks on the matter were most recently held during the enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, involving the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Nations, which was held in New York last month.

After that meeting, Christodoulides had said he Greek Cypriot side has accepted the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals for crossing points in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia and in the village of Louroujina, which is located between Nicosia and Larnaca.

“We did not just accept the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal for the two crossing points, one in Mia Milia and one in Louroujina, we expected there to be a response from the Turkish Cypriot side … regarding the corridor from Athienou to Aglandjia,” he said.

On the Greek Cypriot side’s two suggestions, he said there was “some progress” over the prospect of a corridor between Athienou and Aglandjia, but that the Turkish side was “not in a position to make final decisions today” as the consent of the Turkish army would be required.

He added that the same applies to the prospect of a crossing point through Kokkina.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, meanwhile, ended the meeting less pleased about progress towards new crossing points, saying that “Christodoulides did not fulfil his promise to propose two new crossings”.

“The Greek Cypriot side continues its rigid stance on south-to-south transit corridors which are not crossing points. My approach on this issue has always been guided by a sense of responsibility not just towards my people, but also towards the Greek Cypriot people, our island, and our region,” he said.

Tatar and Christodoulides have not met since the enlarged meeting in New York, though government spokesman Letymbiotis had said on Saturday that the Greek Cypriot side wishes for UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin to visit the island before Christodoulides, Tatar, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hold a trilateral meeting in New York.

That meeting is set to take place during the UN’s “high-level week”, the week during which the 80th session of the UN general assembly is to be held, which has been set for the week commencing September 8.

Holguin most recently visited Cyprus last month, holding meetings with both Christodoulides and Tatar ahead of the enlarged meeting.