Mustafa Akinci

Most of Cyprus was on Monday marking 43 years since the second invasion of the island by Turkish Armed Forces.

Athens lashed out Tuesday against the annual celebrations of Turkish Cypriots marking 53 years since Turkish jets dropped napalm bombs on the island.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the celebrations, with the participation of Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, were an "affront to international justice."

There are no plans to open up the fenced-off ghost town of Varosha, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has said adding that any such move would have to take place within the framework of the parameters set by the United Nations.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said on Monday “at the current stage, there is no decision to open Varosha”, adding that in order to do so all legal and political aspects need to be taken into consideration and such an opening should be adapted to the parameters of the United Nations.

After a farewell meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia on Thursday, outgoing United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide said the reunification talks that collapsed last month at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana can only be revived through an agreement between both sides of the divide, and not the UN.

Espen Barth Eide has returned to Cyprus for the final time in his capacity as United Nations special envoy, as he plans to run in September elections in his native Norway.

Eide is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Thursday morning.

Espen Barth Eide returns to Cyprus Tuesday for the final time in his capacity as the United Nations special envoy as he plans to take part in September elections in his native Norway.

What are Turks trying to do in Cyprus? What might be the aim behind Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı's decision to allow former residents of three Maronite villages to return to their former homes or heralding thousands of former residents of former touristic resort Varosha suburb of Famagusta that permission for their return might be in the cards?

Beleaguered UN envoy Espen Barth Eide will come back to the island next week to say goodbye, informed sources told the Cyprus Weekly earlier this week.

“He is running for MP in his country’s elections, he can’t have it all, he is coming back for a farewell, there is nothing planned as far as the (UN-brokered reunification) talks are concerned,” an insider said on Thursday.

President Nicos Anastasiades announced on Wednesday that he had decided to back down on his decision to controversially make public the minutes of meeting during the peace talks in Crans-Montana following a plea from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.