Nicos Anastasiades

US President-elect Joe Biden said he looked forward to working with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades in a letter sent to thank him for his congratulatory note after winning the US elections in November.

By its continuing actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey is "threatening peace, security and stability" in the region, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Friday.

UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute met separately on Tuesday with the two Cypriot leaders, who said they were open to a possible five-party informal meeting but expressed diametrically opposite views on solving the Cyprus issue.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades was briefed on Tuesday by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the situation in Greece's continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, where Turkey's seismic exploration vessel Oruc Reis is currently stationed, with the two leaders agreeing on coordinated action.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy on June 12 criticized the U.K. for not consulting the Turkish Cypriot administration and Ankara regarding a regulation of the use of properties on British bases by their owners, which the official said means a "change of the status" in the region of the bases.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Wednesday expressed concern over the "ongoing disruption" faced by residents of both sides of the island as a result of checkpoints remaining only partially open for specific groups.

If Turkey does not tone down its aggression in the eastern Mediterranean, it should no longer be considered a candidate for EU membership, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in an interview to Politico Europe.

The Cypriot government and its health advisory committee discussed on Tuesday the possibility of relaxing certain restrictions sooner than anticipated, but final decisions are expected to emerge after the cabinet's meeting on Wednesday.

The Cyprus government announced an 'improved plan B' with a major input from the European Investment Bank to rescue the economy hurt by the coronavirus pandemic with loans worth €1.7 bln, as well as subsidies of interest rates for business and housing loans, after it failed to pass a smaller loans-guarantee scheme through parliament which would have required greater transparency.

The rival sides in ethnically divided Cyprus agreed on Thursday to partially reopen crossing points for Turkish Cypriots in the breakaway north to cross into the internationally recognized south amid a wide-ranging rollback of a two-month lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.