Cyprus

Cyprus will try again to push through the sale of a minority stake in state telecommunications company Cyta, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on Monday.

"We are finding it difficult [to privatize Cyta]..." Georgiades said at an event at the London School of Economics. "But we will have another go."

Turkey will be more active in offshore oil and gas exploration with plans to conduct seismic studies in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean by the end of March or beginning of April, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak said March 14.        

The director of Cyprus' prisons complex says no inmates have committed suicide over the last two years following sweeping reforms in the east Mediterranean island nation's correctional system.

Turkey is in a turmoil for quite a while now. Syria. PKK, the failed coup, the downing of the Russian fighter plane, tensions Greece, Cyprus, almost every neighboring country and lately with the Netherlands and Germany…

A senior official with Italy's oil and gas company Eni says the discovery of a huge natural gas deposit in Egyptian waters has boosted hopes of other such finds in the eastern Mediterranean that could help meet Europe's energy needs.

Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni believes that relations between Greece and Israel are "very good" and that there is potential for closer ties in the areas of energy, among others.

European Union member states have rejected Turkey's demand that its citizens be granted the freedom to relocate and transfer money, services and goods to EU member Greek Cyprus under any deal reunifying the divided island, the Greek Cypriot president said March 11.

From the beginning of negotiations Greek Cyprus has never been willing to secure a genuine peace between two equal partners, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, stressing the need to provide security and guarantees for both communities on the island. 

Jonathan Cohen, U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, essentially admitted that the US was working to avoid conflict between Greece and Turkey. According to mignatiou.com website, Mr.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias accused Turkey of adopting a dilatory strategy on the Cypriot issue during an official visit to Armenia. After his meeting with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian, Mr. Kotzias said Turkey was intentionally procrastinating avoiding entering into the substance of the talks which was the illegal invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus.