Tillyria leaders press president on Kokkina crossing left out of new openings

President Nikos Christodoulides is scheduled to meet with the community leaders of Tillyria on November 19 to discuss the opening of a possible crossing point in Kokkina. According to president of the Tillyria and Kato Pyrgos community council Nikos Kleanthous, community leaders had requested an emergency meeting on the matter. However, because the President is attending the COP31 summit in Antalya, the issue is now expected to be raised at next week’s meeting. As part of them meeting, local authorities are expected to highlight broader problems facing the region, with particular emphasis on its isolation, which, according to residents, continues to affect the region. Kleanthous appealed to Christodoulides to remain firm in his position and to keep the promises that, as he said, have been made to the region. “With the opening of the Kokkina roadblock, the area will emerge from isolation,” Kleanthous said. Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman agreed on Monday, in a meeting with UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy Maria Angela Holguin, to open two of four proposed crossing points. The two new border crossings will simultaneously be opened south of the village of Louroujina, near Larnaca, and south of the village of Karavostasi, west of Lefka but do not include the proposed crossing in Kokkina.