The road between Rizokarpaso and the Apostolos Andreas Monastery will be closed for three weeks

The road between Rizokarpaso and the Apostolos Andreas Monastery in northeastern Cyprus will be closed in the afternoons on weekdays this week and next, the northern Transport Ministry announced on Monday.

The road will be closed daily from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM on weekdays from June 23 to July 4 inclusive. Outside these hours and on weekends, the road will remain open to traffic.

The ministry added that motorists using the road are "strongly urged to drive carefully and slowly."

Transport Minister Erhan Arıklı stated that the reconstruction will relieve Northern Cyprus of “shame.”

“It was really upsetting because thousands of tourists who come here every month judged our country by looking at this road,” he said.

Earlier this year, Arıklı and Hamit Bakırcı clashed over road repair plans. Bakırcı expressed dissatisfaction after workers and vehicles were sent in January to work on the road connecting the villages of Kalopsida and Acheritou in the Famagusta region.

After that, a protest was organized, during which several hundred people blocked the existing road.