Nicosia mayors table joint proposal to save buffer zone buildings

Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mehmet Harmanci on Tuesday said they have drawn up joint proposals to protect dilapidated historic buildings in the buffer zone, which Prountzos will raise with UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin on November 9. Speaking on Politis radio, Prountzos said the two mayors have agreed common positions on the issue, though he declined to give details of the proposed measures. A plethora of buildings inside the buffer zone have deteriorated badly after decades of abandonment and neglect. Prountzos remarked upon the division of Nicosia having predated the 1974 Turkish invasion by a decade, with the first iteration of the Green Line having split the capital in two in 1963. He said the issue has featured prominently in discussions with the European Union, particularly on protecting structures that form part of the city’s cultural and architectural heritage. The proposals have already been discussed with President Nikos Christodoulides and the Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaous Menelaou, Prountzos said. He said he did not want to speak for the government, but believed the Greek Cypriot side was receptive. Harmanci will not attend the meeting with Holguin but, according to Prountzos, remained willing to take part in any future meeting on Nicosia that could help produce a positive result.