KATO PYRGOS (AFP) – Trapped between the sea, mountains and politics, the Greek-Cypriot town of Kato Pyrgos is losing hope of an end to its isolation amid the slow progress made by rival leaders to reunify the Mediterranean island.

Unlike other Cypriot beach resorts which teem with tourists, the streets of this idyllic northwestern coastal town stand empty. Hotels with peeling facades, restaurants and coffee shops are desperately seeking clients.

Ever since the division of Cyprus in 1974, time appears to have stood still for Kato Pyrgos. “We don’t have many foreign tourists. We are so far away from everything else and the road to town is difficult,” Costakis Georgiades, who runs a cafe-restaurant, told AFP.

Like most of the 3,000 residents of Kato Pyrgos and its sister village of Pano Pyrgos, he hopes President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will deliver on pledges to make the town accessible. That would mean opening a crossing point between the government-controlled side, where Kato Pyrgos is located, and the breakaway state in the north, which was declared in 1983 and is only recognized by Ankara. Kato Pyrgos in the northwest of Cyprus is sandwiched between the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Troodos mountains, and a UN-monitored Green Line that runs across the divided island.

Christofias, the Greek-Cypriot leader, and Talat have met almost weekly since a fresh UN-sponsored peace bid was launched in September. At the time, an end to the isolation of Kato Pyrgos was termed a “priority.” But repeated promises to open a crossing point at Limnitis, about 45 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Nicosia, to facilitate travel to Kato Pyrgos have failed to materialize, to the dismay of residents. It’s a 90-minute drive over rough terrain to the nearest city or airport. “We want to trust our president (Christofias). He has promised to do his utmost for our town,” said Sofia Andreou, owner of the Pyrgiana hotel.

The hotel’s terrace was drenched in sunshine on a recent November day but not a soul was in sight. Andreou and Georgiades sound resigned to their fate. “Here people believed (in a solution), maybe for a month, but then nothing happened,” said Georgiades. “Now we simply don’t believe anymore. I don’t think anything will happen any time soon.” In March, the Greek-Cypriot authorities began clearing the way for the Limnitis crossing, which would cut journey time to and from the capital Nicosia by more than half. But nothing has been done.

The opening of a crossing at Limnitis appears to have become more of a stumbling block in the peace negotiations than a step to bolster ties between the two communities. In August, Turkish-Cypriot authorities refused to allow Greek-Cypriot religious pilgrims to cross into the north, even though earlier that month Turkish Cypriots were allowed to attend a military ceremony in the south.“Opening Limnitis raises practical and political problems,” said Hasan Ercakica, a spokesman for Talat, adding that both sides had to gain from a decision to open a crossing point “so that it will have an ethical base.”