Middle Eastern countries

Expert Constantinos Filis joins Thanos Davelis to look at how Turkey's revisionist Blue Homeland doctrine is now central to Turkey's foreign policy, what this mean for countries in the region - primarily Greece and Cyprus - and why it's important for Washington to take a clear stance against this revisionism. 

Separated by politics but united in pride, members of LGBTQ+ communities came together in celebration late on Saturday in the no-man's-land that splits Cyprus in two.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has expressed a firm belief that Turkish Cyprus will gradually overcome the embargoes and embrace global connectivity.

His statement came during a joint press conference with Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar on June 19, where the two leaders discussed economic cooperation and the future of the north side.

Poland and Spain have pulled their personnel from a Turkish-led military exercise over the presence of troops from the breakaway entity in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, military sources have said.

The exercise, named Anatolian Phoenix, is being held from June 6 to 16 in the Turkish interior.

The overall solvency ratio of the Cyprus banking sector stood at 21.2% at the end of December 2022, the same as September 2022, according to data published by the Central Bank of Cyprus last week.

According to key aggregate financial indicators for the Cyprus banking sector, by CBC, an annual increase of 50 base units was recorded.

Two young men, aged 22 and 30, have been remanded on suspicion of assaulting a Turkish Cypriot woman in Greek Cyprus over the weekend, with police seeking another one.

Cyprus is launching an information campaign to counter a spike in irregular migration, authorities said on Tuesday, saying they were struggling with the highest inflows in the European Union.

The island has had the highest new asylum applications in proportion to its population for the past six years. Eurostat data for 2022 showed it at double that of second-placed Austria.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) agrees with Nicosia's priority to bring natural gas το Cyprus, in order to produce cheap electricity, said CCCI President Christodoulos Angastiniotis, after a meeting held between the CCCI and the country's President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday. 

Cyprus wants more direct involvement of the European Union in attempts to end the decades-old division of the island, its president Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday.

Cyprus authorities say they're take extra efforts to ensure flight safety isn't compromised from Turkish warplanes and military drones flying inside Cypriot-monitored airspace without filing either flight plans or communicating with air traffic control.