Northern Cyprus

The two administrations on the divided island of Cyprus decided May 15 to remove visa requirements as a goodwill gesture amid ongoing negotiations over the island's future.

Visa applications will be lifted effective as of May 16 for people living on the island, said a statement issued on May 15 by the Interior Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Airport police in Northern Cyprus have detained a Turkish fashion designer for smuggling marijuana into the country.

Barbaros ?ansal, a famous designer in Turkey, bought a house in Kyrenia in February and began spending most of his time on the island.

Turkish tourism representatives expect to reach over $35 billion in this year's annual income by hosting more than 42 million tourists, despite Europe's economic problems and conflicts in neighboring countries, said Ba?aran Ulusoy, president of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

Turkish citizens living in Australia went to polling stations on May 8 to become the first to cast their ballots in Turkey?s June 7 general election.

On his maiden trip abroad, newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? and his Turkish counterpart and host Recep Tayyip Erdo?an left behind the "motherland" and "kinderland" squabble and declared jointly it was now time to concentrate on fast-tracking the Cyprus talks and finding a resolution in 2015.

The Turkish and Turkish Cypriot presidents refrained from publicly revisiting a quarrel over their ?motherland-baby land? argument, instead focusing on the soon to resume reunification talks of the divided island during a joint press conference in May 6.

The presidential election held on April 26, 2015, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) brought a moderate leftist politician to the presidency. Mustafa Ak?nc?, who ran as an independent, became the fourth president of the TRNC with 60.5 percent of the votes in the runoff while his rival Dervi? Ero?lu, the incumbent president, got only 39.5 percent.

Newly elected Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Ak?nc? made his first official visit to Ankara on May 6, a little more than a week after engaging in a war of words with President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an over the status of the relationship between Turkey and Turkish Cyprus.

Negotiations between the Turkish Cypriot government and the Greek Cypriot administration to find a solution to the ongoing dispute over the divided island are to resume, the recently elected Turkish Cypriot president has announced.

The Cyprus issue has long been a taboo in Turkey, and Cyprus is still a matter of national interest that is not to be discussed freely. Apart from legal and psychological pressures, this taboo has been created by the nationalism of the left and right.