Metehan crowded again: queues form at crossing to the south

On the public holiday of Mevlit Kandili, large numbers of residents of Northern Cyprus headed south, causing long queues of cars at the Metehan checkpoint. According to drivers, waiting in line under the scorching sun took between 20 minutes and one hour.

Residents called on the authorities to increase the capacity of existing checkpoints and open new crossings to address the problem of constant congestion. One driver said he had already been waiting for about an hour for the chance to cross the border. According to him, people need not simply new crossing points, but the removal of the borders themselves and the freedom to move freely.

Other residents noted that the situation becomes particularly difficult on public holidays. Among the possible solutions, they suggested opening a crossing in the Haspolat area and an additional crossing in the Demirhan area.

Some drivers also said that road reconstruction had not solved the problem, as the main bottleneck remains the insufficient capacity of the checkpoints.

In residents’ view, reducing queues requires increasing the number of lanes and opening additional checkpoints on both sides.

One driver noted that, due to the lack of sufficient capacity, crossing the border is gradually becoming a serious problem for people who regularly travel south for shopping and personal errands.