As it is known, with the instructions of our President, a proposal was made to the Greek Cypriot side on March 19 to harmonise the practices of the two sides in order to make the gates operational. In the works initiated after this, intense efforts were made to initiate transitions subject to Covid-19 conditions. In this context, in the pre-Covid-19 conditions, a consensus was reached between the two sides, allowing not only Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots but also third country citizens who meet the mutually accepted criteria to pass through, and this agreement was registered with the UN.


The work, which was delayed due to the increase of the new cases in the Greek Cypriot side and the decision to close it as a result, gained momentum once again when the Greek Cypriot side ended the closure decision on May 10. During this period, our Ministry of Health closely followed the course of the Covid-19 epidemic in Southern Cyprus and made evaluations on the basis of the criteria determined by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In its evaluation last week, the Communicable Diseases High Committee determined that South Cyprus fell into the orange category according to the criteria of the World Health


Organization and made a decision regarding how the crossings would need to be in this direction. In line with this decision, a proposal was made to the Greek Cypriot side through the Bilateral Technical Committee on Health in line with the objective criteria determined by WHO. Greek Cypriot officials stated that there are points to be clarified in our proposal and raised some enquiries. The Infection Control Committee of the Communicable Diseases Supreme Committee convened immediately and answered these questions, transmitted these answers electronically to the Greek Cypriot counterparts and called for an urgent meeting. The meeting, scheduled for today (25 May 2021), has been postponed by the Greek Cypriot side who have stated that they need more time.  At present, confirmation is awaited from the Greek Cypriot side for the meeting to be held later this week.



At the current stage, relevant decisions have been taken by the Communicable Diseases High Committee for the resumption of crossings and the harmonisation studies with the Greek Cypriot side have also been completed. The Turkish Cypriot side is ready to open the gates today. Upon the evaluation of the Greek Cypriot side, the aim is to open the transition gates next week within the scope of the harmonised rules by the two sides.