Both sides, Greek and Turkish, have found the new freedom of movement painful, writes Michael Jansen
For the moment communal togetherness reigns in Cyprus. Since the Turkish Cypriot administration opened the gates in the the Green Line on April 23rd, more than 120,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots have crossed to the other side.
Turkish Cypriots have gone south to the prosperous, internationally recognised republic set to join the European Union (EU) in a year's time. Greek Cypriots have entered the economically troubled northern breakaway state recognised only by Turkey.
Greek and Turkish are now heard in cities, towns and villages where only one or the other language had been spoken.
Excited Cypriots compare what is happening to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Islanders see the opening as the first step on the road to reunification.
In response to popular demand, the present three crossing points are to be doubled. Greek Cypriots will be permitted to stay in the north three days a week if they reside in hotels.
On Wednesday the Cyprus government announced a package of confidence-building measures, the most important being an end to the commercial boycott and the granting to Turkish Cypriots of the right to employment on equal terms and with equal benefits.
No one expected the instant reconciliation that has taken place. The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, had argued for 50 years that Greek and Turkish Cypriots "cannot live together" so they must be kept apart in ethnic zones in a partitioned Cyprus. The frenzied but friendly crossings in both directions have utterly disproved this notion.
Mr Oskar Ozgur, an opposition Turkish Cypriot politician, remarked during an Easter party in the republic: "The people have proved that the division of our country is quite artificial."
Both sides have found freedom of movement painful. A large proportion of the 90,000 Greek Cypriots crossing the line spent 12-18 hours during the five-day Orthodox Easter holiday sitting in traffic jams just to spend a few hours in the north. Some 30,000 Turkish Cypriots endured long waits in long lines beneath a sharp sun or a chill rain.
Cypriots from both communities have returned to homes left in 1974 and met current occupants. Returners have been offered coffee, flowers from gardens they once tended and family photos abandoned in flight.
But they still yearn for the homes they lost. Greek Cypriots have been deeply saddened by the vandalisation of churches and cemeteries by the Turkish army. Most Turkish Cypriots express deep shame.
Because the Cyprus government remains, as far as international legality is concerned, the government of all Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots have an advantageous position. Mosques have been maintained and Muslim cemeteries have not been wrecked although some Turkish village houses have been taken over by Greek Cypriot refugees and others have fallen into ruin.
Turkish Cypriots can claim passports, homes, jobs and property in the republic. Greek Cypriot homes, businesses and land in the north have been deeded to Turkish Cypriots and mainland settlers. Mr Denktash has warned that the "honeymoon" could end if Greek Cypriots are allowed to return to their homes.
His aim seems to be to let down the barriers - physical and economic - but preserve de facto partition and maintain a Turkish army presence in northern Cyprus. This cannot happen for two reasons. On the political plane, EU accession has not only solidified the status of the republic as the sole internationally recognised Cypriot state but also confirmed the Cyprus government's position as the sole legal authority on the island.
The EU considers the northern 37 per cent occupied by Turkey as territory of the republic "not under the effective control of the government". The Ankara-sponsored Turkish Cypriot entity remains outside international law with no prospect of effecting any change in its situation.
On the human plane, Turkish Cypriots are no longer prepared to accept partition. The overwhelming majority wants reunification, coexistence with Greek Cypriots and EU membership.
Since the gates opened a new dynamic has been working, not only against partition but also against the UN plan for a federal state comprising two largely autonomous ethnic cantons. Since Turkish Cypriots intend to claim their rights as citizens of the republic, they cannot do so without granting Greek Cypriots their rights of movement, property ownership and resettlement in the north. This means, in the long term, putting Cyprus back together again as a bicommunal but communally mixed country.
The main obstacle to such a project is 110,000 mainland Turkish settlers planted in the north by Ankara. Having miscalculated about the consequences of even partially "open borders", senior members of Mr Denktash's entourage have been muttering darkly about the possibility of a violent incident which would "prove" Cypriots cannot live together.
But such a plot can never succeed. By May 1st, 2004, Cyprus will be a full member of the EU, with or without the Turkish Cypriots. If there is no progress towards a settlement, Cyprus and Greece are likely to oppose fixing a date for Turkey to begin accession talks. The EU could very well designate northern Cyprus "occupied territory" and cut economic benefits to Turkey.
Emboldened by their new freedom, Turkish Cypriots are threatening an all-out campaign of protest and civil disobedience if there is no progress towards a settlement.