Cyprus

Cyprus could apply to become a member of NATO once its armed forces receive the necessary training and equipment with US help to bring them up to the standards of the world's premier military alliance, the president of the Mediterranean island nation said Thursday. President Nikos Christodoulides put Cyprus on a trajectory for possible NATO membership, ending weeks of media speculation about his government's intentions following his meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington last month. The development goes against Cyprus' long-held policy of neutrality harking back to the Cold War era, when it walked a political tightrope between Washington and Moscow. Christodoulides said that although Cyprus cannot join NATO at this time because of objections that alliance member Turkey would raise to its potential membership, the Cypriot National Guard shouldn't be denied the opportunity to upgrade its defensive capabilities with US assistance. Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troop

President Joe Biden and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday discussed a new effort by the US administration and mediators in the Middle East to forge cease-fires to end fighting in Lebanon and Gaza. Christodoulides leads the European Union nation closest to Gaza. The small Mediterranean island nation has played a critical role in efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza since the war between Hamas and Israel began more than a year ago. He said that Biden and White House officials briefed him on the latest stepped-up efforts by the US administration and other mediators but declined to offer further details about the discussion. The most important priority that the international community has now is to have a cease-fire in the region, Christodoulides told reporters after his Oval Office talks with Biden. Senior White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein will visit Israel on Thursday for talks on possible cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, and on the ..

In addition to the cable project, the ministers also discussed various initiatives for the development of natural gas transmission infrastructure in the Eastern Mediterranean region

An aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food set sail Tuesday from Cyprus to Gaza, the international charity behind the effort said. The shipment is a test for the opening of a sea corridor to supply aid to the territory, where starvation is spreading five months into the Israel-Hamas war. World Food Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef Jos Andrs, posted on the X social media platform that a ship set sail on Tuesday. Associated Press live footage showed it being towed out of a harbor in the port city of Larnaca. The United States has separately announced plans to construct a sea bridge near Gaza in order to deliver aid, but it will likely be several weeks before it is operational. The 5-month-old war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and driven some 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes. The U.N. says a quarter of the population is starving. The attack that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, and militants

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India from Cayman Islands and Cyprus contracted significantly during April-September this fiscal as the overall inflows declined by 24 per cent, according to the government data. FDI from Cayman Islands dipped 75 per cent to USD 145 million during April-September from USD 582 million in the same period last fiscal, the data showed. Similarly, inflows from Cyprus contracted by over 95 per cent to USD 35 million during the six-month period as against USD 764 million in April-September 2022-23. Experts have attributed the sharp fall in FDI from Cyprus and Cayman Islands to a hightened scrutiny of applications. Anjali Malhotra, Partner Regulatory, Nangia Andersen India said FDI inflows from other tax havens such as Singapore, and the UAE have also lost their sheen along with Cayman Islands and Cyprus during first half of 2023-24. "...the recent decline in investment from Cayman Islands and Cyprus may be attributed to enhanced scrutiny of these ...

Cyprus is ready to immediately begin shipping large quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza in vessels that can navigate shallow water once conditions on the ground allow for it, the president of the east Mediterranean island nation said Monday. President Nikos Christodoulides said his country's proposal for a maritime corridor from the Cyprus' port of Larnaca to Gaza is the only one currently being discussed on an international level as a feasible way to significantly supplement the trickle of aid getting into the enclave through Egypt's Rafah border checkpoint. Planning for the corridor of about 230 miles (370 kilometers) is essentially completed, and aid can begin to flow when a pause in fighting is declared, Christodoulides said. The Cypriot leader, who has been in regular contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the proposal, said that getting a green light to start the shipments is a complicated matter requiring intricate negotiations in light of the ongoing

Cyprus offered more detail Wednesday on its initiative to create a sea corridor for the steady flow of humanitarian assistance from Cyprus to Gaza, saying that aid-laden ships would sail directly to the enclave, where United Nations personnel would receive it for eventual distribution. Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the initiative in a positive light during a long telephone conversation Tuesday evening with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. Cyprus is still sketching out with fellow European Union member countries and Arab states the logistical details of its plan to ferry aid from its main port of Limassol to Gaza once conditions on the ground permit it. Ships would be vetted at the point of departure at the Limassol port to ensure that nothing would be transported that could be weaponised by Hamas to use against Israel. Gaza's humanitarian needs have escalated since the Israel-Hamas war erupted ..

Cyprus is doubling the existing 1,153-person capacity of its main migrant reception camp as the island nation prepares for potentially a large influx of people if the crisis in neighbouring Israel and Gaza escalates, authorities said Monday. The Pournara reception camp on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia will see an increase in staffing to adequately provide needed care to new arrivals and expedite asylum application processing, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a statement. Authorities have evaluated different venues where migrants could be accommodated if arrivals exceed the capacity of the centre and would immediately ask the European Union to dispatch more personnel to help process asylum applications, the statement said. Nearly 200 migrants arrived in Cyprus aboard four separate boats on Saturday alone, likely setting sail from Lebanon which is 108 miles (174 km) from the country's eastern coastline - reported state broadcaster CyBC. Regular clashes

Meloni assured Netanyahu of Italy's support for Israel

Prior to this, the EAM Minister met the Foreign Minister of Uganda, Gen JeJe Odongo and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and held bilateral talks

At the Summit, the leaders said that they reaffirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the dynamic cooperation of the trilateral partnership platform

Turkey's president on Monday criticized U.N. peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a road in ethnically divided Cyprus, calling the action unacceptable and accusing the peacekeeping force of bias against Turkish Cypriots. Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not allow any unlawful behavior toward ethnic Turks on Cyprus, where his country maintains more than 35,000 troops in the Mediterranean island nation 's breakaway northern third. Angry Turkish Cypriots last week punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers that blocked crews working on a road that would encroach on the island's U.N.-controlled buffer zone. The road is designed to connect the village of Arsos, located in the Turkish Cypriot north, with the multi-ethnic village of Pyla, which is located inside the buffer zone and abuts the Greek Cypriot south, where the island's internationally recognized government is seated. Preventing the Turkish Cypriots living

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday didn't rule out reviving deadlocked negotiations to resolve Cyprus' nearly 50-year ethnic division, but again rejected any deal that wouldn't offer Turkish Cypriots a state of their own. That position stands against a United Nations-sanctioned framework envisioning a federated island nation. Speaking at celebrations in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north on the 49th anniversary of a Turkish invasion that split the island along ethnic lines, Erdogan again poured cold water on Greek Cypriot hopes of forming a federation composed of Greek and Turkish speaking zones as has been the aim of talks for decades. Everyone needs to understand now that a federal solution is not possible, Erdogan said. He said that Turkey does not oppose fresh talks, but that negotiations cannot restart without recognising the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots. Prompted by a coup in Cyprus aimed at uniting the island wit

The foreign ministers of Cyprus, Israel and Greece agreed to cooperate more closely on issues including energy, defence, economy and tourism.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday met Annita Demetriou, the President of House of Representatives of Cyprus, and had "an interesting conversation on our parliamentary practices." Jaishankar arrived here earlier in the day on his first official visit to Cyprus, as the two countries celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations. "Great to meet President of House of Representatives @AnnitaDemetriou. An interesting conversation on our parliamentary practices," Jaishankar said in a tweet. During his meeting with Demetriou, Jaishankar had "a useful exchange on our bilateral relationship and in the context of the EU." "They also discussed regional issues and Ukraine conflict," Jaishankar tweeted. The minister also said that the two countries have released commemorative stamps on Thursday on the occasion of 75 years of India's Independence and 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Earlier in the day, Jaishankar joined Demetriou to pay homage to Mahatma ..

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit the Republic of Cyprus and Austria from December 29 to January 3, an official statement said on Wednesday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in the statement, said the minister will be in Republic of Cyprus (RoC) from December 29 to December 31, 2022. This year marks 60 years of the diplomatic relations between India and Cyprus. During his visit, Jaishankar will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs of RoC, Ioannis Kasoulides and also call on President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou. He will also address the business and investment community of that country, and interact with the Indian diaspora. In Austria, the external affairs minister (EAM) will meet Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Alexander Schallenberg, the statement said. This will be the first EAM-level visit from India to Austria in the last 27 years, and it takes place against the backdrop of 75 years of diplomatic ...

Cyprus on Saturday hailed the full lifting of a US arms embargo on the ethnically divided island nation as a milestone reaffirming increasingly tighter bilateral bonds that serve to bolster stability in the turbulent east Mediterranean region. The Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Cyprus-US strategic partnership aims at creating the necessary conditions for regional security and stability. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement that Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined Cyprus met the conditions to allow for exports, re-exports and transfers of defense articles .. .for the fiscal year 2023. The US will assess annually whether Cyprus complies with conditions for the embargo lift, including implementing anti-money laundering regulations and denying Russian military vessels access to ports for refuelling and servicing. Cyprus barred Russian warships from using its ports in early March following the invasion of Ukraine. The conditions

Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece have signed a tripartite agreement to strengthen their cooperation on diaspora affairs, the National News Agency (NNA) reported

Even if the Cypriot government was willing to [apply for NATO membership], there are serious issues that would face procedural questions and, of course, an objection from the Turkey: Anastasiades

In a joint statement, the ministers said they had decided to intensify cooperation on issues contributing to resilience, energy security and interconnectivity in the region