Prodromos Prodromou

One day after Turkey's Foreign Ministry slammed a decision by the government in Cyprus to invite companies to bid on a new energy exploration zone off the island's coast, known as block 7, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said Nicosia's energy program would proceed "according to plan on the basis of international law."

"No further comment is needed," Prodromou said.

Cyprus was trying to secure the release of five fishermen who were taken into custody by a Turkish warship Friday as they were fishing off the northern coast of the ethnically divided Mediterranean island nation.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has called for a reassessment of the UN peacekeeping force's (UNFICYP) mandate on the island.

His letter was sent in response to Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades's request that UNFICYP's mandate be renewed for six more months until January 31, 2019.

Nicosia has welcomed an agreement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the name issue announced Tuesday.

In comments to state broadcaster RIK, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou described it as an "important deal" that is expected to generate many "national gains" for Greece.

Cyprus has nothing to fear from possible military strikes against Syria, according to the government spokesman who also said Nicosia is "in no way involved with the operations."

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades is scheduled to meet Friday morning with the UN Secretary General's Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar ahead of his informal dinner date with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci next week.

The Republic of Cyprus will make the necessary representations and protests against the construction and operation of the nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, Turkey, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou has told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

Cyprus returned to international debt markets on Wednesday, just a little over a year after being forced to accept a 10-billion-euro bailout, with a five-year bond issue.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on Twitter: “It’s done. Cyprus back to the markets.”

The bond, he said, was for 750 million euros at an interest rate of 4.75 percent.