Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 03 Mar 2007Turkey unimpressed by removal of barrierCYPRUS:Greek Cypriots earned international praise yesterday for tearing down a symbol of the island's division, but Turkey appeared in no rush to respond to calls to remove its troops from the area.Bulldozers tore down part of the wall that has split Nicosia for more than 40 years. A corridor of crumbling buildings untouched for decades was exposed and quickly covered up with aluminium sheeting. Beyond the 50- metre wide buffer zone, which is manned by UN troops, Turkish soldiers are stationed on either side of the road.