Eastern Mediterranean

HATAY - Abdullah Yanar planted flowers in front of his container home to make it feel more like a real home for his family, who have been living in temporary shelters in southern Turkey since last year's devastating earthquake.

In the immediate aftermath of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, American foreign policy became focused on three areas: a) preventing a war between Greece and Turkey; b) keeping NATO's southern flank intact; and c) averting Soviet involvement. In other areas, it allowed developments to take their own course, so that a new balance of power was created between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

LONDON - When a devastating earthquake struck Turkey in the early hours of February 6, 2023, the five-storey building in Hatay where 13-year-old Mehmet Koc lived collapsed, burying him in rubble and killing his older brother Emre, 14, and his mother Didem.

Syria is the most dangerous

The lifeless bodies of two more people washed up on the beaches of Turkish Cyprus in the last two days, increasing the number of bodies washed up on the country's beaches to five in the month of January alone.

In a major escalation in the Middle East crisis, three US service members were killed and dozens more injured in a drone strike on the Syrian-Jordanian border by the Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance.

Türkiye has expressed its discontent with the recent decision by the U.N. to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Cyprus "without consulting the Turkish Cypriot side."

A United Nations official said on Tuesday that her experience in negotiating an end to decades of conflict in her native Colombia may help her as she seeks to rekindle talks over Cyprus' ethnic division.

The Republic of Cyprus is poised to enter the shareholding structure of one of the largest energy projects in the Eastern Mediterranean. This decision, expected to be finalized in the coming week, follows a study presented to the president last week, which green-lights Cyprus' participation in the Israel-Cyprus-Crete electric interconnection project.

Cyprus announced a series of gestures to support estranged Turkish Cypriots on Friday, days before the visit of a United Nations envoy who will assess prospects for the resumption of long-stalled peace talks.