Politics of Cyprus

A solution to the Cyprus issue is imperative, says the country's former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides, warning that allowing the situation to continue as is is no longer an option for Cypriots. There is no plan B, he says, expressing concerns about the "uncontrollable" Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the fact that "no one has the power to rein him in."

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades received on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

After the meeting, Blair told reporters that he had an excellent meeting with the President.

The UN is hoping dinner diplomacy can push-start stalled Cyprus reunification talks after Cypriot leaders agreed to meet for dinner to iron-out differences.

A statement was issued by the UN on Friday to confirm President Nicosia Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci will meet on April 16 inside the UN-controlled buffer zone in Nicosia at the defunct airport.

Greek Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades urged Turkey on Feb. 21 to lift its blockade of offshore gas exploration that would benefit both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots if the island is reunited.

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı approved a new four-party coalition government on Feb. 2.

Four Turkish Cypriot political parties signed a protocol to form a coalition government on Feb. 1.

Cypriots were voting Sunday for a new president who they hope will overcome years of failure and finally resolve the ethnic divisions that have torn the Mediterranean island nation into a Greek-speaking south and a breakaway, Turkish-occupied north.

Greek Cypriots are voting on Jan. 28 to choose a president who could break a cycle of failure in talks to reunify the ethnically split island and deliver the benefits of a rebounding economy to citizens still recovering from a severe economic crisis.

Turkey commemorated on Jan. 13 the sixth death anniversary of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' founding father Rauf Denktaş, who passed away in 2012. 

Turkish Cypriots on Jan. 7 voted in a snap parliamentary election overshadowed by last year's failure to reach a peace deal for the divided island in UN-backed talks.