Crossing points to and from the government-controlled areas opened on Friday, following over a year of inactivity due to measures in place to contain the Covid pandemic.

The reopening of the crossing points was agreed by the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Ersin Tatar.

A Police spokesperson told CNA the points opened at 06:00 local time, except from the Ledras street crossing point which opened at 08:00.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of the Interior, movement through the crossing points is permitted only with a negative PCR or rapid antigen test.

According to the Ministry, the test certificate must be in printed form and in a language understood by the other community, including English, concerning the name of the person passing, together with the ID or passport number.

It added that all Cypriot citizens (Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots) and members of their families, will have the right to cross, as well as European citizens and members of their families, who are third-country nationals, provided that they are accompanied by the EU citizen, United Kingdom citizens and their family members who hold residence permits of the Republic and third country nationals who hold residence permits of the Republic.

Third-country nationals holding a Cypriot visa (90 days), third-country nationals belonging to the list of countries that do not need a visa (90 days) (including UK nationals who do not hold residence permits of the Republic) third-country nationals holding residence permits in other Member States (90 days), and third-country nationals holding Schengen visas, dual and multiple (90 days) will also have the right to cross.

All minors over 12 need to have a negative antigen test or PCR test.

The Ministry added that the Technical Committee for Health will assess the epidemiological situation at the crossing points every two weeks and depending on the cases, the movement policy will be adjusted.