NICOSIA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The estranged communities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots opened two more crossing points on Monday to facilitate contacts between them, 44 years after Turkish troops forcibly divided the eastern Mediterranean island and its population.
One of the check points was established a short distance for the occupied ghost city of Famagusta in the east and the other in a mountain area about 50 kilometers to the west of the capital Nicosia.
There were no ceremonies when the two crossing points started operation exactly at noon, after discussions which lasted over three years, but people from the two sides who walked over the dividing line hugged and kissed each other.
There were long queues from both sides at the crossing point at Deryneia, a stone's throw from Famagusta, the city which remains fenced off.
Most Greek and Turkish Cypriot political parties hailed the inauguration of the checkpoints as another step towards the re-unification of Cyprus, but some extreme nationalist small groups from both sides voiced their opposition for the same reason: they wanted people to be kept apart.
The United Nations in Cyprus welcomed the opening of the crossing points as a means of facilitating contacts and building confidence between the two communities.
"Today it is a good day for Cyprus...These crossing points will play an important role in helping increase people to people contacts, contributing to build much needed trust and confidence between the communities on the island," said Elizabeth Spehar, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus and head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
UNFICYP's spokesman also said that the United Nations stands ready to support both sides for further confidence building measures that will help build trust between the communities.
People from both communities have been demanding for many years the opening of at least two more crossings that will make life easier for thousands who are forced to make long detours to travel from their places.
Turkey sent troops in Cyprus in 1974, in reaction to a coup organized by the military rulers of Greece, forcibly ousting some 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes in the northern part of the island.
