Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Demetris Christofias and Dervis Eroglu, celebrated the opening of the Limnitis/Yesirlimak crossing point in northwestern Cyprus on October 14th, 2010, in the presence of U.S. Ambassador Frank Urbancic, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Alexander Downer.

The crossing point—only the seventh to open since the island was divided in 1974—will allow Greek Cypriots from the isolated Tylliria region to travel with relative ease to the capital of Nicosia and Turkish Cypriots to travel to the enclaved Kokkina region without UN escort. At the request of the leaders, USAID provided approximately $900,000 in funding to overcome a complex political standoff over the crossing in the summer of 2009.

In his remarks, Ambassador Urbancic heralded the opening as "a metaphor for all of the bridges that the leaders and the people of Cyprus can and must continue to create. For it is on the basis of these linkages and contacts that reconciliation will take root and flourish.