Cyprus crisis

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that the Cyprus issue is "not insoluble" and that a federal solution would be better for all Cypriots than the "unacceptable" status quo.

Turkish Cypriot officials are probing 15 Greek Cypriots whose names were found in the notebook of a self-confessed spy. 

A Greek Cypriot newspaper published new documents about the violent years that led to the division of the Mediterranean island some five decades ago, including an instruction on Greek Cypriot security forces ordering that "10 Turks shall be killed for each Hellen." 

Greek Cypriots started work on June 8 on building what has been billed as the largest casino resort in Europe costing 550 million euros ($650 million) and creating thousands of jobs on the south of the holiday island.    

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said reunifying Cyprus as a federation may not be possible with the current approach of Greek Cypriots and suggested that alternatives should be sought to resolve the island nation's decades-long ethnic division.

Turkish Cypriots will launch their own exploration for oil and gas around Cyprus if Greek Cypriots persist with their own plans, their foreign minister said on March 9, as an uneasy standoff lingered over offshore resources.

Greek Cypriots do not intend to use fresh water provided through a pipeline from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus, Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ said on Dec. 12.

As peace talks between the supposedly most pro-solution leaders of the divided island of Cyprus have collapsed; the answer to "what now" lingers in the air.

Athens lashed out Tuesday against the annual celebrations of Turkish Cypriots marking 53 years since Turkish jets dropped napalm bombs on the island.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the celebrations, with the participation of Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, were an "affront to international justice."

The Church of Cyprus has a definitely far limited clout on politics compared to the Makarios period when the Archbishop was the "national leader" and the president of the state at the same time.