Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Turkey’s president said Monday that any deal resolving Cyprus’ nearly half-century ethnic division must be based on recognition of a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the island nation’s northern third.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks in the north during his first overseas visit after his reelection last month aren’t new, but suggest that Ankara’s policy line on Cyprus remains unwavering, despite international condemnation of the two-state deal proposal that runs contrary to U.N. resolutions calling for a single, federated Cyprus.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus is working together with Irish and U.S. military experts to help train two groups of Ukrainian personnel in clearing an untold number of unmarked minefields in their homeland, the island nation’s defense minister said Friday.

Minister Michalis Georgallas told the Associated Press Friday a first group of 24 Ukrainians was currently undergoing training in Cypriot military installations, with another group expected to arrive next month.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Europe must “re-industrialize” to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on third countries for energy and key raw materials, Spain’s prime minister said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Petro Sanchez said after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Cypriot capital that Europe needs to be “strategically autonomous,” especially in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

NICOSIA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Nikos Christodoulides was sworn in as Cyprus's president on Tuesday, promising to make finding a solution to the "Cyprus problem" his top priority after winning an election runoff on Feb. 12.

Christodoulides, 49, inherits a deadlock in reunification talks on the ethnically split island, labour disputes over high inflation, and what he called challenges of "exceptionally complex" irregular migration.

NICOSIA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Former Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides won the runoff election on Sunday and will be the next president of Cyprus, Chief Returning Officer Costas Constantinou announced after the counting of all ballot papers.

Christodoulides, who ran as an independent received 51.97 percent of the votes, compared to 48.03 percent received by his opponent, Andreas Mavroyiannis, who also ran as an independent and had the support of the left-wing AKEL party.   

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — An exit poll from the presidential election in ethnically divided Cyprus shows a former foreign minister leading a career diplomat by a tight margin in a runoff vote.

According to Sunday’s exit poll by state broadcaster CyBC, Nikos Christodoulides, the ex-minister, garnered 50.5% to 53.5% against 46.5% to 49.5% for veteran diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis.

11 Feb 2023; MEMO: Cypriot officials announced on Friday that several whales had washed up on Cypriot coasts that may have died due to the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria.

Three out of seven whales washed up in various locations across the Cypriot coasts were found alive and were returned to the water during the last few days. However, they were found dead later on.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriots on Sunday began voting for their eighth new president in the ethnically divided island’s 63-year history as an independent republic, with three front-runners each portraying themselves as the safest bet to guide the country through turbulent economic times and to seek peace with breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

NICOSIA, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- About 550,000 voters will go to the polls in Cyprus on Feb. 12, 2023, to elect a new state president, who will succeed incumbent Nicos Anastasiades, according to a decree published here on Friday.

The decree, issued by the chief election officer, set Jan. 5, 2023, for the official submission of candidacies for the post.

Outgoing President Anastasiades, 76, has said he will not seek re-election after two terms in office.

Ten people have already announced their candidacies.

NICOSIA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tourist arrivals in Cyprus next year are expected to surpass the record-high figure reported in 2019 despite international adverse economic conditions, Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said on Tuesday.

He told state-run CyBC radio that arrivals up to the end of this year are expected to reach 80 percent of the 2019's figure of close to four million visitors.