Greek Cypriots

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday said that the country's natural gas exploration vessel Fatih has started "drilling right in the west of Cyprus."

Turkey on June 7 stressed its commitment to protecting the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean after the Greek Cypriot administration said it had signed contracts with major energy industry players.

Greek Cypriot administration has strike a deal with international companies on the distribution of revenues from natural gas exploitation from the Aphrodite field in the eastern Mediterranean, drawing fresh criticism from Turkey.

Turkey condemned the participation of a Greek Cypriot representative to NATO's change of command ceremony on May 3.

Greek Foreign Minister Yorgos Katrougalos in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Press Agency on the eve of his visit to Turkey declared that Ankara cannot be excluded from energy-related issues in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey will begin drilling for resources around Cyprus, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, a move that could create tensions with neighboring Cyprus and Greece over ownership of natural resources.

Attempts to tap gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean have caused friction between Athens and Ankara.

Members of New York's Cypriot and Jewish communities organized a cultural celebration with their traditional food, wines, dancing and music at the Pancyprian Center/Dionysos Restaurant on January 15.

Greek Cypriots have lost a case to register the production method and brand name of the "halloumi" cheese because of a late plea in a U.K court, which angered the opposition and sparked a political crisis in the Greek administration.

A Turkish Cypriot girl in traditional dress gives gifts to a Greek Cypriot as he drives through the newly opened checkpoint linking the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in Lefka-Aplici, Monday.

The president of Cyprus took to the airwaves on Tuesday to defend his proposal for a more decentralized federal government he contended would function better if a reunification deal is reached with the ethnically divided nation's breakaway Turkish Cypriots.