The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders have agreed to open two new border crossings on the divided island of Cyprus, in the first such development in nearly a decade. The agreement was reached on Monday, 9 November 2026, during United Nations-backed talks in Nicosia aimed at resuming peace negotiations after years of deadlock.

Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman met the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, for about four hours inside the UN-controlled buffer zone. The United Nations described the meeting as positive, and said the two leaders would talk again in the coming weeks in the presence of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Two new crossings, opened together

The leaders agreed to open crossing points at Louroujina-Akinciar to Lympia and at Kampos to Karavostasi, on the western side of the island. The two crossings will be opened simultaneously, although no date for the opening has been announced yet.

Once they open, the number of crossing points on the island will rise to 11. There are currently nine crossings along the 180-kilometre buffer zone that separates the Turkish Cypriot north from the Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally recognised government is based. The new routes are expected to ease travel for people living in the areas they serve, including farming communities around Louroujina and Karavostasi.

The agreement is the first concrete outcome of the renewed round of contacts led by Ms Holguin, who has been working to find common ground between the two sides. The leaders had disagreed over the ground rules for talks since they met Mr Guterres on the island in the summer, and formal negotiations have been stalled for nearly a decade.

More than crossings

The meeting produced agreement on several other issues. The two leaders agreed that the Imagine Project, an education programme that brings together Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot schoolchildren, will restart under the Technical Committee on Education. They also agreed that the Technical Committee on Crisis Management will be instructed to create a mechanism for rapid response to emergencies, and to share archival materials.

Discussion of the substance of a settlement, and of the method for future talks, will continue in the period ahead, the UN said in a statement after the meeting. A further trilateral meeting with Mr Guterres is expected in the coming weeks, although no date has been set.

Reaction and background

Not everyone welcomed the outcome. The Turkish Cypriot mayor of Nicosia, Mehmet Harmanci, said it was a major disappointment that the new crossings did not include one in the capital, where congestion persists at the Ayios Dhometios crossing. He acknowledged, however, that the Louroujina and Karavostasi crossings were positive steps.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey intervened after a brief coup backed by the military government then ruling Greece. The island's Greek Cypriot south is internationally recognised, while the Turkish Cypriot north is recognised only by Turkey. Repeated rounds of UN-backed talks have failed to reunite the island, and the two sides remain far apart on the shape of any settlement, with the Turkish Cypriot side pressing for recognition of two separate states.

Monday's agreement does not resolve those differences, but it is the first time in years that the two leaders have jointly announced a practical step forward. Whether it leads to a resumption of substantive negotiations will depend on the trilateral meeting with Mr Guterres and on the further contacts Ms Holguin has planned.