Zypern

Cyprus and Turkey have traded harsh words on their frozen conflict, in a sign recent elections on both sides changed little. The "open wound" of Turkey's 50-year old occupation of northern Cyprus formed the centrepiece of Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides' speech at the European Parliament on Tuesday (13 June).

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have moved farther apart since a failed summit in 2017, hampering cooperation in several important matters and increasing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. Hopes for reunifying Cyprus are faint at present, but the parties can still work toward more modest goals.

Mandate of UNFICYP extended

[…] The political climate between the two sides was marked by a significant hardening of positions and increase in unhelpful rhetoric, against the backdrop of election campaigning and a decrease in public confidence in the possibility of the sides finding common ground on a way forward regarding the settlement talks.

Turkish President says Ankara will reinforce the 40,000 troops already present on the island with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition and vehicles after after the US lifted defence trade restrictions on Cyprus.

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The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months — until on 31 July — expressing serious concern about several issues, including the continued violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines.

[…] With the backdrop of a continued lack of progress toward the resumption of formal negotiations between the sides, cooperation on the island remained limited, notwithstanding the sustained dialogue between the leaders’ offices through the United Nations in Cyprus.

Cyprus signed a deal Thursday for Israel’s military to build an electronic surveillance system, monitoring activity along the UN-patrolled Green Line across the divided Mediterranean island.