Roundup: Cypriot authorities tighten security at crossing points

Cypriot police have intensified security arrangements at crossing points between government controlled areas and the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, a police officer said on Tuesday.

The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the measure is a precautionary one, following the deadly attacks in France in which 17 people were killed.

He said that airports, ports and crossing points between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts of Cyprus were involved in the beefing up of security.

Cyprus has been divided into Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot regions after Turkish troops occupied the northern part of the eastern Mediterranean island in 1974, reacting to a coup by officers loyal to the Greek junta.

Crossing points between the parts of Cyprus were opened 10 years ago, allowing Greek and Turkish Cypriots to mix again after 30 years of separation.

Government policemen on the government controlled side of the divide were seen checking travelling documents or identities of all non-Cypriots going in or coming out of the Turkish occupied part of the island, abandoning their former practice of random checks.

There was no immediate official explanation for the change of security tactics but the police officer insisted that it was only a precautionary measure.

However, the chief of the Central Intelligence Service, the Cypriot secret service involved in covert operations, has confirmed press reports that pick-up trucks with Cypriot registration plates which appeared in Jihadist controlled fighting areas in the Middle East had originated in Cyprus.

He said that the trucks had been driven through checkpoints into the Turkish controlled area and were sent via Turkey to Syria, where Jihadists used them as mobile machine-gun posts.

The trucks appeared in videos mounted on Youtube.

Security sources said that European citizens who wanted to join the Islamic State forces arrived in the government controlled areas of Cyprus to avoid raising suspicion and then crossed into the Turkish controlled part of the island.

From there they headed to Turkey and Syria.

Police and Army officers met on Tuesday to consider using army units to strengthen security at entry points into Cyprus and guard sensitive buildings, such as foreign embassies and government premises.

No statement was issued after the meeting. Endit