Greece and Turkey are moving closer than ever before following the exchange of mutual aid after disastrous earthquakes in Turkey and Greece last year. Gaulkin shied away from commenting on what Denktash's role might be in the increased contacts. Force spokesman Charles Gaulkin told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the heavy use of existing lines was forcing the UN to consider expanding the service, suggesting it would probably be necessary to double capacity. Gaulkin added the UN was also considering the introduction of fax service, which does not currently exist. No date has been set to begin work on any upgrading of the telephone exchange, and it will take at least several months before all preparations are complete and funds available, Gaulkin told the Mail .
Records kept by Unficyp show that the use of bicommunal phone lines is increasing rapidly.
The number of calls per month rose sharply during the course of 1999, from 17,607 in January to a peak of 44,652 in November. Averaged out for the year, the automated service handled just under 1,000 calls per day. Prior to the introduction of the new service, an operator-assisted system averaged only about 100,000 connections per year. The project was the brainchild of US envoy Richard Holbrooke, who promoted it through a bicommunal business initiative. Lordos sees the project as a way of testing the good will that exists in each community towards solving the Cyprus problem.