Syrian Christians want their identity and freedoms protected in any new constitution, envoy says
Nicosia, Cyprus AP As Syria begins recovering from 50 years of autocratic rule by the Assad family, an international envoy says Christians and other religious groups expect their rights and freedoms to be preserved under a new constitutional settlement. Salina Shambos, a senior Cypriot diplomat and the newly appointed special envoy for religious freedom and […]
Cypriots across divide want more contact, more open checkpoints
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties appealed to their respective leaderships on Thursday to open more crossings to facilitate better communication between the island’s rival communities. Ethnically divided Cyprus has nine crossings along the 180 kilometres ceasefire line that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thousands use them daily with long queues […]
Asylum seekers stranded in Cyprus buffer zone fall foul of conflict
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Asylum seekers have been stranded in a UN controlled buffer zone splitting Cyprus for weeks, caught up in the conflict which divides the island and a government getting increasingly tough on migration. For just over three months around 40 people have been trapped in no-man’s-land, in what is increasingly becoming a battle […]
Looted after a war, priceless antiquities brought back to Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Cyprus has taken delivery of priceless antiquities looted after war split the island in 1974, as part of an ongoing effort to trace and repatriate thousands of artefacts fenced worldwide. Authorities say thousands of antiquities were stolen and sold across the world after a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. […]
One part of Cyprus mourns, the other rejoices 50 years after split
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Greek Cypriots mourned and Turkish Cypriots rejoiced on Saturday, the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of part of the island after a brief Greek inspired coup, with the chances of reconciliation as elusive as ever. The ethnically split island is a persistent source of tension between Greece and Turkey, which are both […]
Frozen in time, an airport rots as Cyprus logjam persists, 50 years on
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Once a bustling hub, Nicosia International Airport has stood deserted for the past 50 years, a still enduring symbol of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus half a century ago following a brief Greek-inspired coup. Time has been standing still ever since at this air terminal – perched on a hill on the western […]
Decades after division Cypriots still hope for unity
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Every week for the past 20 years, a group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots have gathered in a cobbled courtyard in Cyprus’s divided capital Nicosia to reminisce about the past and dream of a reunited homeland. With the longest stalemate in peace negotiations in memory, it is a bleak prospect. People walk […]
Snapshot: Church of Ayios Lazarus in Larnaca, Cyprus
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Second shipment with more than 300 tons of food for Gaza leaves Cyprus port
Larnaca, Cyprus Reuters Ships carrying 332 tons of food for Gaza left Cyprus’s Larnaca port on Saturday in a convoy which will reach the besieged enclave early next week, authorities said. It is the second shipment this month after Israel eased a 17-year naval blockade on the Gaza Strip to allow aid in from Cyprus, […]
First Gaza aid ship leaves Cyprus with Palestinians on brink of famine
Larnaca, Cyprus/Cairo, Egypt Reuters A ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid for Gaza left Cyprus on Tuesday in a pilot project to open a sea corridor to deliver supplies to a population that aid agencies say is on the verge of famine after five months of war. While welcoming the project, however, senior UN officials […]