The olive harvest in the North Cyprus is early this year because of the large amount of rainfall last winter .   Farmers started collecting olives earlier this month, taking them to be processed in the olive oil factories.

The olives were taken in large bags and were taken back home as oil in drums.

Karşıyaka(Vasiliya) olive oil factory owner Erdoğan Dağgül said that olive trees have been productive this year.

He said: ‘Every year we normally open the factory in November and shut it down in December, working for two months. However, the olives matured early this year because there was plenty of rain, so we opened the factory one month earlier this year.

“Now ,the demand for the olive presses is very high. The amount of olives brought here has increased and the olives are good quality as well”.

A local gardener said: “ I live in Karşıyaka and there are nine olive trees in my garden. I could not produce any olive oil last year. But my trees are full of olives this year and the yield is very high”

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The Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders opened a new crossing point giving what many see as a boost to stalled reunification talks.

The opening of the frontier at Yeşilırmak (Limnitis), in the Lefke region, satisfies a decades-long demand by residents on both sides of the divide and to kick start regional development.

‘Every open gate brings us closer to peace,’ said 61-year-old Turkish Cypriot Vehit Nekipzade,who  lives in Yeşilırmak.

‘For us, it,s miracle. The village is reborn , it,s alive again ,’ said 63-year-old Greek Cypriot Maria Georgiou, who lives in the Kato Pyrgos village on the southern, Greek Cypriot side of the divide.

The crossing gives the villagers access to the capital, Nicosia via a direct route that leads through the North Cyprus, reducing a 200-kilometre detour to a 70-kilometre trip and cutting the time by about one-and-a-half hours.

The push for a Yeşilırmak crossing began in early 2008 when the then Turkish Cypriot presidend Mehmet Ali Talat  and Greek Cypriot president Dimitris  Christofias embarked on a renewed peace drive. Months of negotiations ensued until work by joint venture to repave a six kilometre stretch of road began. The United State and the European Union funded the project.

Turkish Cypriot president Derviş Eroğlu and Christofias conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday, attended by EU enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle.

‘The European project will not be complete without a solution to the Cyprus problem,’ Füle said. ‘Today,s opening is an encouraging signal,’

In his address, President Eroğlu reiterated his belief that a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem could be found by the end of the year.

‘We believe that this is within reach,’ Eroğlu said.  ‘ I believe that confidence building measures such as the opening of this  crossing point will contribute positively to this process.’

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