CYPRUS is bracing itself for the annual pilgrimage along the "Green Line" by motorcyclists marking the Turkish army occupation of the city of Famagusta in August 1974. The convoy also protests against the de facto partition of the island.
But this year the bikers have announced that they will not only ride along the line but also cross into the Turkish controlled area and make for the picturesque port town of Kyrenia on the north coast. A vanguard of 20 Cypriot and 100 European bikers began their ride a week ago at the Brandenburg Gate in unified Berlin to make the point that the division of Cyprus should also come to an end.
En route to Cyprus through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece the bikers distributed leaflets about the Cyprus situation and gathered strength in numbers.
Tomorrow morning 7,000 bikers are expected to converge on the town of Dhyrenia which overlooks the deserted and crumbling city of Famagusta. They plan to drive along the eastern sector of the UN buffer zone through the British base of Dhekelia to Pyla, the only remaining mixed village in Cyprus, and continue along the line until they reach the still divided capital.
The Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister, Mr Atay Rasit, called the bikers' plan to go to Kyrenia a "blatant threat to peace and stability on the island". The Turkish Cypriot police have banned motorcycles of 100cc or above and Turkish troops have been ordered to shoot any bikers who enter the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state. The UN spokesman, Mr Waldemar Rokoszewki, believed the threat to shoot was meant as a deterrent.
A formidable array of forces have been massed to try and prevent the bikers from crossing the line. These include units of the Turkish army, the Turkish Cypriot militia and police, the 1,200 strong UN force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), hundreds of British troops transferred temporarily from the western Episcopi base to Dhekelia in the east, the 10,000 men of the Greek Cypriot National Guard and thousands of police. Among these forces will be the 15 members of the Garda, under Chief Supt Liam Quinn, who are based at Pyla and police the area targeted by the bikers. Chief Supt Quinn told The Irish Times that his force "will be operating as front line liaison in support of the Austrian" peacekeepers deployed in the Famagusta area.
If the bikers keep to their plan, this will be the first mass attempt to cross the line by Greek Cypriots since 1989 when 8,000 women, organised by the "Women Walk Home" movement, marched across carrying the white flag of peace.
