Ledra Street

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Ledra Street

Ledra Street at the level of the bufferzone

Ledra Street crossing at the day of its opening from the Northern side

Ledra Street is a major shopping thoroughfare in central Nicosia, Cyprus. The name refers to the ancient city-kingdom of Ledra, established in 1050 BC, that was located in the centre of the island where the capital city is today. During the Cypriot struggle for self determination in the late 1950s, the street was nicknamed by the British colonists as The Murder Mile.

Traditionally, Ledra Street was the main shopping street of the capital, although in recent years it has been superseded by more accessible streets further out from the centre. Properties on the street are largely for commercial use and command some of the highest real estate prices on the island.^[1] The street leads off Eleftheria square, runs in a South to North direction and is about 1 km long. Most of it lies within the area effectively controlled by the Republic of Cyprus while the northern part currently falls within the areas administered by the separatist^[2] internationally-unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

1 Earlier history
2 Roadblock reopening after 44 years
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Earlier history

During the EOKA struggle that ran from 1955–1959, the street acquired the informal nickname The Murder Mile in reference to the frequent targeting of the British military by nationalist fighters along its course.^[3]

The street was largely pedestrianised in 1998.^[4] Due to the military presence at the ceasefire line, for many years it was impossible to travel the full length of the street. Plans in 2005 to open access to pedestrians across the ceasefire line failed.^[5] In 2008, however, a joint announcement between Dimitris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat confirmed a political decision to change this.^[6]

[edit] Roadblock reopening after 44 years

On April 3, 2008 at 9 a.m. local time (06:00 UTC), the Ledra Street roadblock crossing through the UN buffer zone was reopened after 44 years, in the presence of Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials who cut a ribbon in Kykkou street, the road between Ledra Street and what is known as Locmatzi point in the Turkish controlled part of Nicosia. Addressing the ceremony, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou said this day is "an auspicious occasion" as it signals the opening of the fifth crossing point in Cyprus. The International Herald Tribune reported that officials released balloons to mark the event at the end of an opening ceremony.^[7] Immediately afterwards, citizens from both sides began using the crossing.

However, later in the day at 9 p.m. local time (18:00 UTC), the Cypriot police closed off the new Ledra Street checkpoint due to a violation of the agreement by the Turkish occupation forces, whose guards penetrated deep into the UN controlled buffer zone. The incident was broadcast live on Cypriot television. A Cypriot Police source said that two Turkish Guards had refused to leave the buffer zone which was agreed to remain under full UN control. The Cypriot authorities considered the move a breach of the agreement between the Cypriot President and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community and therefore quickly sealed off the checkpoint.^[8] After the arrival and mediation of UN officials, Turkish Cypriot forces withdrew back to their ceasefire positions and the crossing was reopened by the Cypriot Police.^[9]