Cyprus

The world's eyes are on a two-day European Union summit on March 17-18, during which the details of a draft Turkey-EU deal, which aims at curbing the bloc's worst migrant crisis since World War II, will be debated ahead of a possible deal.

The "capriciousness" of the Greek Cypriot administration should not be allowed to block the EU-Turkey deal reached last week in order to curb the migrant influx into the EU, a Turkish minister said on March 16. 

Greek Cyprus threatened on March 15 to derail a proposed EU deal with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants to Europe, insisting on longstanding demands including that Ankara recognize its government.
EU President Donald Tusk, meanwhile, said the deal needed to be rebalanced to be accepted by all 28 member states and EU institutions.

Greek Cyprus on March 15 ruled out consenting to an expedition of Turkey's long-stalled talks to enter the European Union, unless Ankara fulfilled its obligations to recognize the island. 

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk is scheduled to land in Cyprus on an official visit, Tuesday in an effort to persuade the Cypriot government to ease up on its harsh stance towards the prospect of the EU opening up EU accession chapters for Turkey.

Was it indeed an effort aimed at arresting the decline in the share of his Movement for Social Democracy's (EDEK) votes or was he really concerned about the Cyprus talks process?

Territorial land settlement issues, among them the status of the town of Morphou, were currently not on the negotiating table at the United Nations-brokered peace talks for Cyprus, a U.N. envoy has said. 

U.N. special envoy for Cyprus Espen Barth Eide said March 10 after a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? that the issue of Morphou was not yet on the table.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? lashed out at European Union Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis for his plans to pay a courtesy visit of just 15 minutes when he comes to the island in the coming days.

Speaking at a local SME summit on March 2, Ak?nc? said they would not prefer a visit from Dombrovskis at all if it is only going to be a courtesy visit of 15 minutes. 

Greek Cypriot authorities are making preparations for a transition process on the island after a possible peace deal, Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yoannis Kasulidis has said, noting that the return of the "ghost town" Varosha was their top priority during this process. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned an arson attack on a mosque located in Greek Cyprus, while the top Christian and Muslim leaders of Cyprus have said the attack had sowed discord and undermined peace on the island.