Continents

The presidential election in Turkish Cyprus will be held on April 26, 2020.

The election bans will start on March 1, according to the statement made by Turkish Cyprus Supreme Election Board (YSK).

Four politicians announced the presidential candidacy.

Looking back at 2019 it will no doubt be remembered as the year that Turkey upped the ante in the deep waters of the East Mediterranean by adopting and promoting a highly provocative, if not belligerent, stand.

Cyprus is blocking new European Union sanctions against several officials from Russia-annexed Crimea in a bid to secure EU backing for tougher action against Turkey in a separate row over drilling for hydrocarbons, three diplomatic sources said.

Nicosia denied linking the two issues and said it needed time to review the proposed measures against the Crimean officials.

Turkey is ready to revive all dialogue channels with Greece including the exploratory talks, the Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 24.

Richard Grenell thanked Vicic for his hospitality on the joint press conference and said he would "push both sides" to reach an agreement in the dialogue.

Palestine's leadership vowed on Jan. 23 not to recognize any Middle East peace plan it had previously rejected, warning the U.S. and Israel against announcing such a deal.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denied rumors that Moscow plans to recognize Turkish-occupied Cyprus which, according to some Turkish media reports, would take place in exchange for Turkey recognizing Abkhazia.

In a sweeping legal victory for members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, the United Nations' top court on Jan. 23 ordered Myanmar to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people.

The court's president, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the International Court of Justice "is of the opinion that the Rohingya in Myanmar remain extremely vulnerable.''

Some 300 Turks living in and around the Libyan capital have said that they feel better after a truce between the battling sides in the country.

Turkish citizens living under the siege by Gen. Khalifa Haftar's military forces for nine months are mostly owners of restaurants, furniture shops and auto mechanic shops, according to the Turkish consulate in Tripoli.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the European Union of being biased against his country on the Cyprus issue and Ankara's relations with Athens and Nicosia, saying the union "should actually play a balanced and objective role."