Nicosia

Financiers in Cyprus, an island divided by war four decades ago, want to set up an Islamic finance hub to spur an economy that hasn’t grown in three years.

The Cyprus Investment Funds Association is calling for the government to sell sukuk to lure investment from the Middle East, CIFSA’s president, Angelos Gregoriades, said in an e-mail interview from the capital Nicosia.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has told Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades that Washington intends to play an active role in the island’s peace talks, Kathimerini understands.

Aegean Airlines SA could benefit from the privatization of Cyprus Airways Public Ltd. even if it doesn’t eventually buy the carrier, as the process paves the way for a review of airport fees and policies.

Cyprus’s creditors have not approved the foreclosures bill tabled in Parliament by the government in Nicosia, and as a result have decided to postpone the disbursement of the next bailout tranche to the island nation, as the issue will not form part of this Friday’s Eurogroup meeting, Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades (photo) told CyBC state radio on Tuesday.

The newly appointed United Nations special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide (photo), will hold a joint meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in Nicosia on September 17.

Eide revealed that the meeting would take place after holding separate talks with the two men on Friday.

Energy companies ENI and Kogas will start exploratory drilling for oil and gas off Cyprus in coming weeks, the island’s energy minister said on Thursday.

Kogas and ENI, which are partners, have concessions over three offshore areas in the Mediterranean south of Cyprus.

A meeting on Friday between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Turkey’s new president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Wales achieved little other than underlining their radically different positions on the Cyprus problem, Kathimerini understands.

 Samaras, Erdogan make no statement after meeting in Wales

Ankara has sought to play down recent comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Cyprus that sparked a strong reaction from Greece's foreign ministry, according to reports Friday.

One day after Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed for a two-state solution on Cyprus, President Nicos Anastasiades on Tuesday expressed disappointment over comments made by the new Turkish president while placing his hopes of reaching a settlement on the European Union and Nicosia’s strategic partners.

A government jet carrying Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos back to Athens from Ankara where he had attended the inauguration ceremony of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to conduct an emergency landing in Thessaloniki on Friday due to a technical problem.