Latest Cyprus News

Cyprus court: Briton freely confessed to wife's killing

Mar. 21, 2023 09:10 AM EDT

PAPHOS, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus criminal court on Tuesday rejected a defense argument that a British man’s confession to killing his ailing wife was unlawfully obtained, because he was in no frame of mind to speak to police without a lawyer present. David Hunter, 75, made the...

Cyprus to speed up repairs to high-rises amid quake worries

Mar. 16, 2023 15:43 PM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriot authorities will spend more than 100 million euros ($106 million) to repair dozens of dilapidated high-rise housing units built decades ago for refugees from the island's 1974 Turkish invasion, officials said Thursday. Interior Minister Constantinos...

UN official says world body committed to Cyprus peace deal

Mar. 15, 2023 10:27 AM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The United Nations remains committed to helping rival Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots reach an agreement to bridge the island nation’s ethnic rift, a senior U.N. official said Wednesday. The problem has been a source of instability in the east Mediterranean for...

Cypriot president pledges 2% of GDP on defense spending

Mar. 10, 2023 12:07 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus will earmark 2% of gross domestic product to defense spending in line with other European Union member states as a means to strengthen the east Mediterranean island nation’s foreign policy bargaining power, the new Cypriot president said Friday. ...

Mediterranean countries push for EU solidarity on migration

Mar. 04, 2023 12:51 PM EST

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Less than a week after a deadly migrant shipwreck off Italy, five European Union countries on the Mediterranean Sea pushed back Saturday against their northern neighbors for not accepting asylum-seekers under a voluntary relocation initiative. The ministers...

Cyprus' new president says country on firm Western footing

Feb. 28, 2023 08:32 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' new president affirmed the island nation's Western foreign policy orientation as a member of the European Union that seeks to further strengthen its bonds with the U.S. and stands firmly with others on “the side of justice” to condemn Russia's...

Cyprus court detains Syrian suspected of migrant trafficking

Feb. 25, 2023 06:54 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court on Saturday ordered the detention for six days of a Syrian man suspected of illegally bringing 21 Syrian migrants to the east Mediterranean island nation aboard a boat. Police said the suspect was arrested after the migrants identified him as...

Divided Cyprus' new president scopes out peace talks reset

Feb. 23, 2023 08:14 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The new president of Cyprus met informally with the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots on Thursday to test the waters on reviving stalemated talks to end the island’s ethnic division, which has been a source of instability in the east Mediterranean for decades. ...

Turkey quake revives debate over nuclear plant being built

Feb. 16, 2023 06:12 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A devastating earthquake that toppled buildings across parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria has revived a longstanding debate locally and in neighboring Cyprus about a large nuclear power station being built on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coastline. ...

Ex-minister Christoulides wins Cyprus presidential election

Feb. 12, 2023 15:52 PM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides was elected as the new president of Cyprus in a runoff election Sunday, pledging to revive stalemated reunification talks with the nation's breakaway Turkish Cypriots and to form a coalition government with women filling half of...