Although Ledra Street in Nicosia had to be closed temporarily following the appearance of uniformed Turkish Cypriot policemen in the buffer zone, the atmosphere of celebration by thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots represented a powerful signal for politicians to advance on the road towards reunification.
The removal of an historic symbol of partition could become a major milestone since 1963, when violence erupted between the two rival communities. Nicosia was later divided into Turkish Cypriot north and Greek Cypriot south by a UN monitored buffer zone, which also split the enitre island.
Last February the Greek Cypriots elected the communist Demetris Christofias as president, with a mandate for change. Christofias and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, both leftwingers, met last month and pledged to launch reunification negotiations by this summer.
The Greek community, who voted against the island's reunification during the referendum in 2004, seems to have realised that the division is not in their interest. In the absence of progress the island could move to formal and permanent partition, leading to the permanent loss of land that Greek Cypriots claim as theirs and the arrival of more Turkish settlers.
