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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A United Nations official said on Tuesday that her experience in negotiating an end to decades of conflict in her native Colombia may help her as she seeks to rekindle talks over Cyprus’ ethnic division. “I was part of that team that we finally reached a peace agreement” in Colombia, Holguín told reporters after her first meeting with the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. Only Turkey recognizes a 1983 Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third. Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the only way to peace is a two-state deal, ditching an agreement to reunify the island as a federation composed of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones. "Certainly, we believe that if there’s the same political will from the other side, the resumption of talks can happen very quickly.”

Persons: María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, Holguín, Nikos Christodoulides, ” Holguín, It’s, Ersin Tatar, Antonio Guterres, –, Constantinos Letymbiotis, “, ” Organizations: United Nations, Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot, Greece Locations: NICOSIA, Cyprus, Colombia, Turkish, Turkey, Turkish Cypriot

☆ Group of Muslim countries to push for Gaza ceasefire -Turkish source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ANKARA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A newly formed group made up of senior officials from several Muslim countries will visit the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members and others to urge an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Tuesday. "The primary goal of the contact group is for a ceasefire to be announced as soon as possible and for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza," the source said. The Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 raid, the deadliest in Israel's 75-year history, prompted Israel to invade Gaza. The group will meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron during visits to Britain and France on Wednesday, the source said. Turkish media reported the group would visit France and Britain on Wednesday.

Persons: Hakan Fidan, Tayyip Erdogan, Fidan, Al Jazeera, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Bernadette Baum Organizations: United Nations Security, Arab League, of Islamic Cooperation, Palestinian Authority, Security, Palestinian, Hamas, Turkish, British, Britain, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Gaza, Turkish, Riyadh, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, Beijing, Israel, Moscow, Algeria, Turks, Istanbul

☆ More Than 100 Gaza Evacuees to Arrive in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA (Reuters) - More than 100 evacuees from Gaza are set to arrive in Turkey on Monday, including dozens of people who will receive medical treatment there, Turkey's health minister and a foreign ministry source said. He said last week that Ankara wanted to bring as many of the nearly 1,000 cancer patients from Gaza to Turkey as possible. The first 27 patients arrived in Ankara last Thursday. The foreign ministry source also said that if conditions on the ground permit, Turkey aimed to get around 100 more people out of Gaza on Monday. A month ago, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz said some 700 people, including Turkish, Palestinian, and northern Cypriot citizens, had applied to Turkey to be evacuated from Gaza.

Persons: Fahrettin Koca, Ahmet Yildiz, Huseyin Hayatsever, Daren Butler, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: Health, Turkish, Turks Locations: ANKARA, Gaza, Turkey, Egypt, Ankara, Al Arish, Istanbul, Cypriot

☆ Cyprus police make more arrests as racism-fuelled violence spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NICOSIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus have made 20 arrests after a spate of racism-fuelled violence against migrants which erupted in the west of the island last week and spread to its southern city of Limassol in a weekend rampage. Last week Syrians living in Chlorakas, a village in western Cyprus, were targeted by hooded attackers in sporadic incidents over two days, leading to 22 arrests. Overnight Saturday to Sunday, three people from southeast Asia were attacked and robbed, state media said. Among the victims of the weekend's violence were a group of visitors from Kuwait, according to social media accounts of witnesses. "This isn't the Cyprus I was born, raised, had a family and am getting old in," he said.

Persons: Kyriakos Kouros, Michele Kambas, Ros Russell Organizations: Police, Migrants, Reuters, Turkish, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Cyprus, Limassol, Chlorakas, Asia, East, Africa, Turkish, Kuwait

☆ Turkey says UN peacekeepers intervention of Turkish Cypriot roadworks unacceptable
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Scuffles broke out on Friday between U.N. peacekeepers and Turkish Cypriot security personnel when peacekeepers tried to prevent roadworks starting in an area the U.N. says is part of a buffer zone under its jurisdiction. Erdogan also said Turkey will continue to side with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara. Turkish Cypriot authorities want to build a road that would give residents of Pyla/Pile, a village in the U.N.-administered buffer zone, direct access to territory under Turkish Cypriot control. Turkish Cypriot authorities say the peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP, overstepped its boundaries. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar characterised the road project as essential.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Anitkabir, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Erdogan, Scuffles, Ersin Tatar, Ezgi, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Supreme Military Council, Presidential Press, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Peacekeeping Force, Turkish Cypriot, Thomson Locations: YAS, Ankara, Turkey, Rights ISTANBUL, Cyprus, Pyla, U.N, Turkish, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot

☆ UN peacekeepers hurt in Cyprus buffer zone clash with Turkish forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.N. peackeepers were manhandled by personnel in Turkish Cypriot police and military uniforms, a witness said. Turkish Cypriot bulldozers had moved U.N. trucks, cement bollards and barbed wire in the United Nations-administered buffer zone splitting the island. The controversy is centred around plans by Turkish Cypriot authorities to build a road traversing the territory which the United Nations says is under its control. Turkish Cypriot authorities are planning to build an 11.5 km road linking Pyla/Pile to a neighbouring community which lies in breakaway north Cyprus. It had been in talks with Turkish Cypriot authorities over their plans, and work had started without the requisite agreement from the U.N., Siddique said.

Persons: Scuffles, Aleem Siddique, Siddique, Michele Kambas, Angus MacSwan Organizations: United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, . Security, UN, Greek Cypriot, The United Nations, Turkish, Thomson Locations: NICOSIA, Turkish Cypriot, Cyprus, Turkish, British, United States, Britain, France, United, Pyla, United Nations, Greek

☆ Greece and Cyprus welcome EU bid to re-engage with Turkey, but urge caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis walk during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus July 31, 2023. The division of Cyprus between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations, a source of friction between Greece and Turkey, has also been an impediment. Cyprus was divided after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. It is represented in the EU by an internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot government. In recent years the Turkish Cypriot side has advocated a two-state settlement, rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Nikos Christodoulides, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Yiannis Kourtoglou, Mitsotakis, Christodoulides, Ersin Tatar, Michele Kambas, Conor Humphries Organizations: Cyprus, REUTERS, Monday, European Union, EU, Christodoulides, Cypriot, United Nations, Turkish Cypriot, Greek, Thomson Locations: Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Greece, Turkey, Ankara, Turkish, EU, Cyprus's, Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot

☆ All you need is love, say LGBTQ+ activists on divided Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Members of Cyprus's LGBTQ+ communities from both sides attend the annual bi-communal LGBTQ+ Pride at Ledra Palace inside the UN buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus, June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis KourtoglouNICOSIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Separated by politics but united in pride, members of LGBTQ+ communities came together in celebration late on Saturday in the no-man's-land that splits Cyprus in two. Cyprus was split by ethnic violence which culminated in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Saturday's Pride event is just the second to bring together members of LGBTQ+ communities from both sides of the divide. Activists said that despite the physical boundary, the island's LGBTQ+ communities were becoming more integrated and reflective of a multi-cultural Cyprus which includes ethnicities other than just Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Persons: Yiannis Kourtoglou, Erman Dolmaci, Dolmaci, Alexandros Efstathiou, Efstathiou, Michele Kambas, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, United, Turkish Cypriot, LGBT Pilipinas, Queer, Thomson Locations: Ledra, Nicosia, Cyprus, Yiannis, Yiannis Kourtoglou NICOSIA, Cyprus's, United Nations, Turkish, Saturday's, Queer Cyprus

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Turkey's elections on Sunday are a key moment not just for the country itself but also for its European neighbours. Its internationally recognised government, composed of Greek Cypriots, is an EU member, while the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is recognised only by Ankara. However, EU officials see little sign that Kilicdaroglu would change much on Cyprus. EU leaders designated Turkey as a candidate to join the bloc in 2004 but the talks ground to a halt years ago. There is already a lot of European money that has made its way to Turkey," said a European diplomat.

☆ 'Cyprus problem' top priority for island's new president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Nikos Christodoulides sworn in as Cyprus presidentSays solving division 'top priority'Where are the women, opposition asksNICOSIA, 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. Cyprus has an executive system of government, with power invested in the presidency and its council of ministers. "A solution to the Cyprus problem is my top priority," he said. Of 25 appointments announced on Monday, 14 were male and 11 female, though there were fewer females in key posts. Reporting by Michele Kambas Editing by Peter Graff and Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cyprus leaders meet as peace talks remain deadlocked
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Iakovos Hatzistavrou/Pool via REUTERSNICOSIA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities met on Thursday as a deadlock persisted in peace talks on the ethnically divided island. The meeting was the first for newly elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the new Greek Cypriot leader, and Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup, with Greek Cypriots living in its south and Turkish Cypriots in an unrecognised breakaway north. "The present state of affairs cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem, not for Greek Cypriots, or Turkish Cypriots," Christodoulides said after the two-hour meeting with Tatar. "I didn't hear anything I didn't expect from Mr Tatar," Christodoulides said.

☆ Cypriot diplomats face off in cliffhanger presidential vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Supporters of Cyprus presidential candidate Nikos Christodoulides are seen in front of a poster, at the campaign headquarters a day ahead of the presidential elections, in Nicosia, Cyprus, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Louiza VradiNICOSIA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A runoff election on Sunday to select the president of Cyprus pits two career diplomats against each other in what could be a cliffhanger vote that has split the political right. His candidacy was given a boost this week when DISY said its members should vote with their conscience. The DISY leadership were angered after Christodoulides, a former party member, broke ranks to run as an independent. read moreLeading DISY party members have since come out in support of each candidate.

☆ Town in North Cyprus buries last of high school volleyball team killed in quake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Mourners from a town in North Cyprus on Sunday buried the last of 39 people, including 24 children, who were killed in last week's earthquake while in Turkey for a school volleyball tournament. The team from Turkish Maarif College in Famagusta, in Turkish Cypriot-controlled North Cyprus had travelled to Adiyaman for a match together with their trainers, teachers and parents. They were caught in the devastating quake that hit southern Turkey and Syria in the early hours last Monday. Mourners, among them high school students, prayed and wept over the two coffins, between which lay a volleyball. The death toll in Turkey and Syria from the earthquake and major aftershocks rose above 33,000 on Sunday and looked set to keep growing.

☆ Cyprus probes washed up dead whales, earthquake link possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NICOSIA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A number of whales have washed up dead on the northern shores of Cyprus, authorities said on Friday, possibly affected by the massive earthquakes in neighbouring Turkey and Syria this week. Six beaked whales were found dead on Friday, while a pod of four were found beached on Thursday, the Cyprus department of fisheries and marine research said. Three of the four from Thursday were guided back to sea, while the fourth died, it said in a statement. It was unclear if the dead pod found on Friday included those whales from Thursday that had been returned to the sea, it said. Monday's mega earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which have killed tens of thousands of people, were also felt on the east Mediterranean island.

☆ Cyprus poll draws record 14 candidates, unlikely to produce clear winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michele Kambas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Among a record 14 candidates, the race for the top job comes down to three hopefuls who were close aides of incumbent right-wing President Nicos Anastasiades, but are now bitter rivals. Diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, the third candidate backed by opposition left-wing AKEL, was the government's chief negotiator in reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots. Opinion polls say Christodoulides, 49, will sail through to the second round, leaving Neophytou and Mavroyiannis battling it out for second place on Feb. 12. Christodoulides is supported by roughly a third of DISY voters and has backing from centrist parties which are hardliners in reunification talks. Under his watch, Cyprus gave passports to thousands of rich foreigners in a system critics said was fundamentally flawed.

☆ A quiet US move in the Mediterranean may help put more pressure on Russia, but not everyone in NATO is happy about it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US lifted its 35-year-old arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus in September. But the US decision has rankled Turkey, which is at odds with NATO ally Greece over the island. Increased cooperationThe Cypriot Underwater Demolition Team and US Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Europe train in Cyprus in September 2021. "This is a landmark decision, reflecting the burgeoning strategic relationship between the two countries, including in the area of security," Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades said after the announcement. Cyprus is one of many points of contention between Greece and Turkey, whose worsening relations have worried other NATO members.

☆ Turkey to re-inforce military presence in northern Cyprus -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Turkey will re-inforce its military presence in northern Cyprus after the United States lifted defence trade restrictions on Cyprus, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. Speaking in a televised interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Erdogan said the lifting of the restrictions was "inexplicable in terms of content and timing." We cannot," he said, adding that Turkey already has 40,000 troops on the island and will reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition and vehicles, Erdogan said. Since then, Cyprus has been run by a Greek Cypriot administration in the south that Ankara does not recognise. The breakaway Turkish state on the northern side of the divided island is only recognised by Ankara.

☆ 18 haunting images capture Cyprus' divided border that's effectively frozen-in-time
▼ + stars: | 2014-04-10 | by ( Jeremy Bender | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The buffer zone was hastily evacuated during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Read on for a visual tour of the zone that's effectively been frozen in time. Loading Something is loading. For the past five decades, Cyprus has remained divided between the southern Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which has only been recognized by Turkey. Ranging from 11 feet at its narrowest to 4.6 miles at its widest, the zone was hastily evacuated during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

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