Turkish invasion of Cyprus

Europe's top human rights court has ordered Turkey to pay a fine to the relatives of a murdered Turkish Cypriot family after ruling it had failed to cooperate with neighboring Cyprus in investigating the 14-year-old crime.

Keeping up the tension in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday sparked controversy by underscoring Ankara's military might as his foreign minister announced that the country will start exploring for natural resources around Cyprus.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Jan. 2 warned that it will take action against the Greek Cypriot administration if it continued to stop travelers from crossing their mutual border.

A group of Greek-Cypriot university students went on a two-day hunger strike on Tuesday outside the Turkish Consulate in Thessaloniki on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the unilateral proclamation of the Turkish-Cypriot state in the occupied north of Cyprus on Thursday.

A march to the Turkish Consulate has also been planned for Thursday.

Turkish scientists have discovered a new spider species in the mountains of Northern Cyprus. 

A father and son who were arrested in northern Cyprus on Saturday have been released from custody after being fined 215 euros each for illegally crossing into a military zone.

Cypriot soldiers are seen on tanks during a military parade marking the 58th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus, in Nicosia, on Monday. The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960.

Smugglers attempted to use a drone to fly illegal drugs over the frontier separating Turkish-occupied Cyprus with the rest of the island, one of the most heavily guarded areas in Europe, Turkish Cypriot media reported.

Forty-four years ago Turkish paratroopers landed in Cyprus. Soon afterwards a second Turkish invasion with armored units took place and Cyprus was cut in two. The French have a saying that nothing lasts longer than the provisional.

The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the largest Greek-American organization in the United States, has issued a statement on the 44th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the Mediterranean island's subsequent illegal occupation.