Deryneia and Lefka Crossings Open

Since April 2003, when the first crossings opened along the Green Line, Cypriots have been able to move between north and south at a handful of official checkpoints. More were added over the following years, but by 2018 there were still only seven, and none had opened since 2010.

When Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı began their negotiations in 2015, one of their first agreed gestures was to open new crossings, at Deryneia (Derinya) near Famagusta in the east and in the Lefka (Lefke) area in the north west. Progress was slow. In the summer of 2018 two tenders for building work near the Deryneia checkpoint drew no bids, and a bicommunal Famagusta group accused the Turkish Cypriot side of dragging its feet.

Formal talks had broken down at Crans-Montana in July 2017. On 26 October 2018 the two leaders met at the residence of the UN Special Representative, Elizabeth Spehar, in the buffer zone in Nicosia and announced that the crossings at Lefka (Aplıç, or Apliki in Greek) and Deryneia would open on 12 November. They also said they were ready to work with UN envoy Jane Holl Lute, who was due on the island days later.

The two crossings opened together at midday on 12 November 2018. At Deryneia soldiers removed the barriers while riot police stood by, and dozens of people crossed on foot past UN peacekeepers. Some onlookers argued before the opening, but the crowd crossed peacefully. Spehar called it a good day for Cyprus and said the crossings would help increase contact between people.

The openings took the total number of crossings to nine. Further crossings have since been discussed, and at a UN meeting in Geneva in March 2025 the two sides agreed in principle on four more. By April 2026, however, none had opened, leaving Deryneia and Lefka as the most recent.