Turkish invasion of Cyprus

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday unanimously condemned Turkey for its aggression toward Greece and Cyprus and called on Ankara to release two Greek soldiers who have been in Turkish custody for more than three weeks. 

Turkish Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın has stated that the United States’ 6th fleet has not yet arrived off the island of Cyprus, after the Greek Cypriot administration claimed that the U.S. navy will be in the eastern Mediterranean for the protection of Exxon’s drilling vessel from a potential Turkish intervention.

Turkey has reiterated its determination in not abandoning its rights and Turkish Cypriots’ rights over the rich hydrocarbon reserves off Cyprus to unilateral actions of the Greek Cypriot administration, as news reports suggested Turkish warships have blocked a rig around the island that belongs to Italy’s energy firm ENI.

A university student of Nigerian-origin was killed on Jan. 31 by locals in Turkish Cyprus.

Turkey has underlined that any future initiative for the resolution of the decades-old Cyprus problem should be based on “current realities” and on the fact that Turkish and Greek Cypriots have differing conceptions of a new federal state. 

Talks on the reunification of Cyprus should resume only if the "political status" of Turkish Cypriots is addressed should the new talks fail, a senior Turkish Cypriot official said.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that archives regarding the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey in 1974, which had been locked away for 43 years would be made public for the first time. During his visit in Nicosia Mr.

Turkish-Cypriot newspaper Yeni Duzen reported that access to a beach near the fenced-off town of Varosha is open only to Turkish nationals and Turkish-Cypriots showing identification.

According to the paper, Greek-Cypriots and foreign nationals are not allowed to enter.

On the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared on Wednesday, TRUTH NOW repeated its call for the Republic of Cyprus to take all necessary measures for the ascertainment of the truth and restoration of justice.

The non-governmental organization also called on the government to provide guarantees of non- repetition of similar events and mistakes.

Murat Mihran İşler, a Turkish-Armenian veteran of the Turkish army's move on Cyprus in 1974, was laid to rest in Istanbul on Aug. 22.