Search

721. UNFICYP renewal invokes reactions

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution on Tuesday, providing for the renewal of the mandate for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus for another six months while also invoking mixed reactions...

722. Ankara stands down pending dialogue

Turkey could pause energy-exploration operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a while pending talks with Greece, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday...

723. Dendias issues stern message to Ankara

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Monday sent a stern message to Ankara, saying that Greece “will not accept any fait accompli” at the expense of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereign rights...

724. NAVTEX warnings muddy the waters off Cyprus

Rival navigational warnings and conflicting information about naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean dominated headlines over the weekend, with Germany appearing to be behind a last-ditch effort to buy time and de-escalate tensions between Greece and Turkey...

725. Borrell, Cavusoglu agree on need to de-escalate EastMed tension

EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell held a telephone conversation on Thursday with the Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu, with the two agreeing on the need to de-escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. ...

726. Stern warning issued to Turkish vessel

Amid heightened tensions, Greek military sources have told Kathimerini that if cables of the Turkish Oruc Reis seismic research vessel touch the Greek continental shelf, Turkey will have the “complete and exclusive” responsibility for what will follow....

727. Greece ‘overreacted’ to Turkish research mission, Erdogan spokesman says

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Thursday that Greece had “overreacted” to plans by Turkey to proceed with an oil-and-gas research mission south of Greek islands in the Eastern Mediterranean....

728. Cypriot president in Paris for talks

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday, as the two leaders get together amid heightened rhetoric over the eastern Mediterranean...

729. Armed Forces source: ‘Situation unchanged’ near Kastellorizo

The situation “remain unchanged” in the sea area near the Greek island of Kastellorizo on Wednesday for which Turkey issued a Navtex on Tuesday for seismic activities in an area of sea between Cyprus and Crete, according to a source from the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA)....

730. Greek armed forces on alert over Turkish exploration off Kastellorizo

The Antalya Navtex station on Tuesday announced plans for a Turkish seismic survey south and east of the Greek island of Kastellorizo from July 21-August 2....

731. Cyprus President calls for EU sanctions against Turkey

President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the matter of the two countries’ relations with Turkey at the EU Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels on Friday, with both demanding that additional sanctions are imposed against Turkey....

732. Cyprus among five countries that present UNSG with note verbale on Tukey-Libya MoU

Cyprus, Bahrain, Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia have presented a note verbale to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterrres, outlining the reasons why the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of National Accord of Libya on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean in Istanbul on 27 November 2019 should not be registered by the UN Secretariat in the list of international treaties....

733. Anastasiades lauds France as a pillar of stability in EastMed region

In a period of immense challenges and illegal actions, the presence of the French naval force in the broader geographical region tangibly proves the readiness and determination of France to act as a pillar of stability in the region, while it sends a clear message to those who aim at escalating tensions by acting in an unacceptable way, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said Monday....

734. EU to discuss new names for further sanctions against Turkey

EU Foreign Ministers agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council held Monday in Brussels that the Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors (RELEX) that convenes on Thursday should discuss imposing further sanctions against Turkey in view of its provocations in the Cyprus EEZ....

735. UNSG report on his good offices in Cyprus obtained by Kathimerini Cyprus

The 39-page advance copy of the Report of the UN Secretary-General on his mission of good offices in Cyprus was obtained by Kathimerini Cyprus....

736. Turkish court rules to let Hagia Sophia return as mosque

737. Turkey reacts to US plan for military education, training for Cyprus

Turkey expressed its disagreement over a US government plan to make International Military Education and Training (IMET) available to Cyprus, saying it does not help resolve the island’s division....

738. Berlin to press Ankara over drilling plans for East Med

Berlin plans to play an active role, in the context of Germany's presidency of the European Council, in easing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean where Turkey plans to expand its exploration for oil and gas in contravention of Greek and Cypriot exclusive economic zones...

739. Anastasiades: Patriotic realism dictates solution through diplomacy, not weapons

Instead of a catastrophic scenario, we opt for diplomacy, the weapons of international law and Cyprus’ status as an EU member state. This is what is dictated by patriotic realism and rationalism, and not a rhetoric of empty slogans. The coming days are crucial as regards initiatives taken by the EU and the US in view of preventing a potential crisis through targeted measures towards Turkey....

740. Aegean tension fueling Berlin concern

With Germany assuming the European Union presidency on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern over developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Greek-Turkish relations in response to questions from MPs in the Bundestag....

741. EPP head calls for more EU support for Greece, Cyprus vis-a-vis Turkey

The chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP) and German MEP on Tuesday urged the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, to call for debate on “ongoing and repeated Turkish aggressions” against Greece and Cyprus....

742. No progress among EU leaders on virus recovery deal

European Union leaders found that a quick deal on the bloc's future long-term budget and a multibillion-euro post-pandemic recovery plan remained beyond their reach Friday as the coronavirus ravages their economies....

743. Cyprus, Greece to be Israeli tourists' first destination, Netanyhu says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he aims to resume regular flights to and from Israel by August 1, noting Greece and Cyprus will be the first destination for Israeli tourists....

744. Greece and Italy sign ‘historic’ maritime borders accord

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday inked a maritime borders agreement delimiting an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between the two countries....

745. Greek PM says Greece ready for any challenge

Amid renewed tensions with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed on Wednesday that Greece “will face all challenges with consistency, stability, confidence and always with a commitment to international law, as it always does.”...

746. The growing complications of the reopening of checkpoints

The discussion for the reopening of checkpoints will be anything but an easy feat, as in addition to the role played by the epidemiological situation, the matter is inevitably being politicized in view of ‘elections’ set to take place in the north, but also in light of the UNSG’s report expected around the end of June....

747. Ankara sparks renewed tensions with Athens over claim for 24 blocks

Ankara on Tuesday responded to a complaint from Athens concerning a map published in the Turkish government’s gazette outlining areas where Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has applied for exploration licenses, including several within Greece’s continental shelf, by insisting that these areas are within the boundaries Turkey has submitted to the United Nations. ...

748. Tensions mount over plans for high-rises on iconic Nicosia street

After tensions mounted in recent days over plans for the construction of a high-rise building complex on the iconic Gladstone Street in central Nicosia which hosts historic and traditional listed buildings, the developers of the planned construction fired back on Monday, claiming the plans are in line with the town planning regulations of the Nicosia Master Plan....

749. Quarantined Turkish Cypriots cross north

Two Turkish Cypriot students who were quarantined in the south after traveling amid the coronavirus pandemic have been transferred to the north, putting to the test the levels of cooperation between the two sides on the divided island...

750. Repatriations cutting it close to flight ban

Hundreds of citizens have asked to be repatriated to the Republic of Cyprus, prompting the government to seek options to beat a universal ban on all flights that goes into effect on Saturday...