Cyprus

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

After the collapse of the Cyprus intercommunal talks and with the Greek Cypriot side insisting on taking unilateral actions in utilizing the offshore wealth of the island, tension started to build up with the start of drilling by French Total in Cyprus' offshore Block 11 on July 13.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a trilateral summit to take place in Nicosia in November, Cyprus`s Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidis told Ahram Al-Arabi magazine on Thursday.

In what appears to be an effort to steer clear of Greek-Turkish tensions, the British Royal Navy has reportedly canceled a scheduled military exercise off the southeastern Aegean island of Karpathos, which had been announced in a navigational telex (navtex) issued by Ankara, to the outrage of Athens, Ekathimerini writes.

Tassos Isaac, 24, and Solomos Solomou, 26, two young, brave Greek Cypriots standing up against the occupation, were brutally killed on Aug. 11 and 14, 1996 by Turkish occupation forces.

The civilized world should remember and honor their memories.

Turkey’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak says his county will determinedly move ahead with oil and natural gas drilling in the Mediterranean—including around Cyprus – as well as in the Black Sea.

Speaking to Turkish newspaper Habertürk, Albayrak said Turkey expects to begin using its own drill within the last quarter of this year.

Preparations for the opening of the Dherynia crossing are nearing completion while the call for tenders to complete the piece of road in the green line is expected to be issued shortly.

A middle-aged man who spends most of his life devoting himself to the promotion of intercommunal relations, a re-united Cyprus and the brotherhood of the people of the island, irrespective of ethnic, religious and of course political divisions, decided to take refuge from the roasting August sun in a hillside touristic facility in Paphos.

Italian energy giant ENI is expected to start three hydrocarbon exploratory wells in blocks three, six and eight in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on November 1.

The well in block 6 is a joint venture with French energy concern TOTAL and is in an area hotly contested by Turkey.

Turkey on Aug. 9 criticized "baseless" allegations from the Greek Foreign Ministry regarding commemoration events in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Aug. 8, marking the 53rd anniversary of the Erenköy Resistance.