Getting around the island of Cyprus just got a bit easier. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides have agreed to open two new crossing points along the divide that has split the island since 1974. The deal was struck during a U.N.-brokered trilateral meeting in Lefkoşa (Nicosia), held in the buffer zone and mediated by the U.N. secretary-general's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar.
The session, which ran for just over three hours at the U.N. chief of mission's residence, produced a joint statement confirming the new crossings will link Akıncılar with Lympia and Gemikonağı with Kambos-Karavostasi. Both routes sit away from the busy Nicosia corridor — one in the central plain, the other in the island's north-west — meaning travellers will soon have fresh options for combining, say, a stay on the southern coast with trips to Morphou Bay or the Karpaz region without backtracking through the capital.
More crossings aren't the only outcome. The two sides agreed to relaunch the bicommunal Imagine education programme, set up a rapid-response crisis management mechanism through the relevant technical committee, and begin restoring several Maronite churches and an Armenian monastery under the Cultural Heritage committee. Talks on further crossings will continue, and another trilateral meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected. The U.N. characterised the mood as positive, with both sides committing to additional confidence-building measures.
Why does this matter for visitors? Cyprus is one of the few places where you can breakfast in one jurisdiction and lunch in another, but crossing options have historically been limited to a handful of checkpoints, with long queues at peak times. New links in the Akıncılar-Lympia and Gemikonağı-Kambos corridors will open up the island's interior and north-west coast to easier day trips, and the heritage restoration work promises better access to sites that have seen little maintenance in decades. For anyone planning a split-island itinerary — Greek Cypriot beaches plus North Cyprus's castles and coastline — the practical barriers are slowly coming down. Travellers should note that crossing rules still apply: EU citizens and many third-country nationals can cross between the south and the TRNC with a passport, and day trips in either direction are routine for tourists. Keep an eye on announcements for opening dates, as timelines for new crossings can take time to implement.
