Cyprus opens new border crossing on divided island

People poured in to the Turkish-backed side of the border from the island's Greek Cypriot south, where United Nations peacekeepers monitor the border.

The Lefka or Aplici crossing, in the northwest of the eastern Mediterranean island, saw dozens pass through following its midday opening.

Barriers at the Dherynia crossing were cleared of barriers wrapped ahead of its opening.

Elizabeth Spehar, UN special representative and head of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, welcomed the move.

"Today is good day for Cyprus," she said in a statement.

"These crossing points will play an important role in helping to increase people to people contacts, contributing to build much needed trust and confidence between the communities on the island."

The move follows a breakdown in peace negotiations between the two sides in July last year with hopes that talks might now resume.

"It's another asset to the peace talks," said Chris Charalambous, who was just 18 when war broke out in 1974.

Cyprus has been divided between Turkish and Greek speaking zones, since Turkish troops occupied its northern third in 1974.

This followed a coup sponsored by a military junta then in power in Athens seeking to unite the island with Greece with the Turkish invasion leading to their downfall.

Fighting between Cyprus' Greek and Turkish communities led to hundreds of civilian dead and missing, deeply dividing the two sides which once lived side-by-side on the island.

For the first time since fleeing the conflict said Chris Charalambous was looking forward to seeing his house, which he said lies in a Turkish Cypriot military zone, and fled in 1974 when war broke out.

"I'm just going to walk down and then I walk back, I don't know if I can stand spending time in the north," he told AFP.

Turkish Cypriot authorities cleared the way for the free movement of people in 2003, opening up the two divided sides for the first time in decades.