Halloumi

In the protracted negotiations to bring together the Turkish and Greek communities of Cyprus, few would imagine that a rubbery cheese would make its mark.

But on July 17, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the sides had reached a ?common understanding? on registering halloumi cheese as a ?protected designation of origin? (PDO) product under EU law.

As peace talks resume in Cyprus and hellish arguments in Turkey are fired up over the Cypriot issue, it was the right time to revisit the island. 

The recognition of the Cypriot cheese "halloumi" as a product of protected designation of origin by the EU has put Nicosia on a collision course  with other EU member states. Cyprus first made an application to secure protected designation of origin (PDO) status for its famous traditional halloumi cheese in July 2014.

Turkish Cypriot Economy, Tourism, Culture and Sports Minister Serdar Denkta? is fuming nowadays on two issues.

Forty years after Cyprus was divided by a bloody conflict, the island's Greek and Turkish communities are trying to overcome their differences and find an unusual common cause: halloumi cheese.
 
Efforts to have the increasingly popular "squeaky" cheese granted a protected European Union status have raised fears that Turkish Cypriot producers will be excluded.