Divided regions

A group of Cypriots, including an MEP, on Monday filed a war crimes complaint against Turkey at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Petitioners called for an investigation into Ankara’s policy of settlement in the Turkish-occupied north of the island following the 1974 invasion.

A group of Greek Cypriots has filed a war crimes complaint against Turkey at the International Criminal Court over what they say is its policy of settling Cyprus’ breakaway north with mainland Turks.

This Saturday, July 12, there was a solemn ceremony in Cyprus. Forty years after he went missing, the remains of a Greek Cypriot was finally laid to rest. This was the first-ever funeral held in northern Cyprus for a Greek Cypriot missing person.

President Abdullah Gül will make his last official foreign visit to Turkish Cyprus on July 20.

Gül will participate by on the island to mark the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Turkish Peace and Freedom Day.

Turkish Cyprus was the president’s first destination of choice after he was elected in 2007.

Cyprus is considering tapping the bond market by September, according to two government officials directly involved in the process.

One of the officials, who asked not to be identified as no final decision has been made, said the initial offering will be for about 500 million euros and will probably be held after a share sale by the Bank of Cyprus, the country’s biggest bank.

Turkish Cypriot negotiator Kudret Özersay has given up hopes of a resolution on Cyprus anytime soon unless the current skidding stops, talks are brought to a serious give-and-take stage and the two sides commit themselves to reaching an agreement by a certain date. Will Greek Cypriots agree to that? No way…

Cyprus's central bank has demanded that privately held Bank of Cyprus finalise plans this week to raise at least 1 billion euros in a capital issue, media reported on Wednesday.

Central Bank Governor Chrystalla Georghadji, in a letter published in the Simerini newspaper, gave the bank a three-day deadline to affirm its plans for the completion of a capital issue by Aug. 8.

Turkey is the best route for sending offshore natural gas from Cyprus to Europe, EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on July 1.

Çavuşoğlu’s comments came amid growing expectations that the reserves from the Aphrodite gas field off the southern coast of Cyprus – estimated to be about 200 billion cubic meters – could prove a catalyst for peace and cooperation in the region.

Genoa merchants on the site of a former Greek colony called Tyras built the fortress on the right banks of the Dnester River of stone in the 13th century; it was rebuilt under the rule of Alexander the Good (1400-1432) and equipped with a new system of battlements under Stephen the Great.

Considered a "testament in stone" of Stephen the Great, the church of Volovat is the penultimate foundation of the Moldavian ruler.