Middle Eastern countries

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias criticized Turkey's activities in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean on Monday, saying it is leading Ankara to international isolation.

"We discussed Turkey's illegal actions, which are not limited to Cyprus' exclusive economic zone," he told journalists at a joint press conference with visiting Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias criticized Turkey's activities in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean on Monday, saying it is leading Ankara to international isolation.

"We discussed Turkey's illegal actions, which are not limited to Cyprus' exclusive economic zone," he told journalists at a joint press conference with visiting Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides.

The fresh water supply from Turkey to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has suffered a disruption, Turkey's agriculture and forestry minister said on Jan. 11. 

Bekir Pakdemirli told reporters in Turkey's southern Mersin province that the Turkey-TRNC water pipeline didn't break and that the reason for the disruption has yet to be ascertained.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı received the UN special representative at the capital Lefkoşa on Jan. 10. 

The meeting with Elizabeth Spehar took place at the presidential palace.

Turkish Cypriot officials say it will take two months to restore a submerged water pipeline from Turkey, following an incident due to severe weather.

Kudret Özersay, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Turkish Cyprus, announced on Jan. 9 that he will run for 2020 presidential race.

Özersay said on Facebook that he will run as an independent candidate for the elections slated for April.

Turkey on Thursday rejected a joint statement released by the foreign ministers of Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and France which denounced two memorandums of understanding signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based government in Libya, arguing that it "is based entirely on factitious arguments and false premises."

Turkish and Greek diplomats will hold their first regular political consultations following a dispute over Turkey's maritime delimitation deal with Libya. 

Nicosia has accepted a request from Washington regarding the arrival of an American Rapid Deployment Forces unit for humanitarian purposes in case of an emergency.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, the United States asked the Republic of Cyprus to give its consent for an American military unit to be stationed temporarily on the island.

The Greek Cypriot-Greek governments' deal to build a natural gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean without consulting Turkish Cyprus can only be described as a hostile attitude, Turkish Cypriot Premier Ersin Tatar said on Jan. 5