Cyprus has no shortage of histories
Three recent books help explain why consensus on the nature of the Cyprus problem, let alone the solution, remains so difficult. And, perhaps, why dozens of UN diplomats have failed ...
Articles
Cypriot landlords will feel impact of new UK rent law
For many Turkish and Greek Cypriot families who settled in the UK after the conflicts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, property ownership meant more than having somewhere to live. ...
We have to ensure no ‘weepie’ end to the Cyprus movie
I have previously written about how, for Turkish Cypriots, the tragic events of 1963 to 1964 marked a profound rupture, during which their political equality, as enshrined in the Cyprus constitution, was ...
Global political shift cannot be explained by Trump alone
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Western leaders were again confronted with Donald Trump’s “imperial” disregard for diplomatic norms. His remarks about Nato allied territory of Greenland becoming ...
Scene is set for another process of interminable talks
The Christmas and New Year period is traditionally a time associated with peace, reconciliation and goodwill, but as Europe looks towards 2026, the prospects are shaped less by seasonal sentiment than ...
Cyprus’ focus should be on demilitarisation
Are Cypriots sleepwalking into another tragedy, one that could match or even exceed those of 1963–64 and 1974, which resulted in so many deaths, displacements and destitution?
In the south of the ...
Two-state solution in Cyprus is not irrational
The Turkish Cypriot community will go to the polls to elect a new leader on October 19. This is a hotly contested race between the current energetic centre-right leader, Ersin Tatar, ...
Don’t hold your breath, but hope springs eternal
On August 8, 2025, in the gilded halls of the White House, a handshake between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev marked what many thought impossible – a declaration ...
Public discourse still imagines Cyprus as frozen in 1960
Every year, on “national” days of celebration and remembrance, marked separately in the northern and southern Cyprus, politicians regurgitate dusty old speeches that portray the island as still defined by ...
Erosion of civil liberties and freedom of speech in the UK
On Wednesday night, I watched Gaza: Doctors Under Attack on UK television, Channel 4. It was a harrowing experience.
The Guardian describes the documentary succinctly “We are shown doctors doing their ...
The dividing line between fact and fiction
In the 1980s, there was a joke doing the rounds among IT people like myself.
The Cray supercomputer was asked the ultimate question: “Is there a god? Does it exist?” ...
Holguin: the personal envoy with a mountain to climb
Poor Maria Angela Holguin has once again been dragged into the political minefield that is Cyprus, reappointed as the UN secretary-general’s (UNSG) personal envoy. There was hesitation in announcing ...
Less than wise to hoist the hijab policy upon northern Cypriots
In the UK, where there is no ban on the hijab for girls and women in public institutions including schools, we see an increasing number of successful, popular and respected ...
Cyprus provides, and we should thank her
I have been writing many articles which look into the darker side of our humanity, and challenging relevant authorities to do better. As spring blossoms with its natural energy and ...
Very hard to get at all excited about Geneva talks
Tomorrow, Turkish Cypriot, Greek Cypriot, Turkish, Greek and British representatives will meet with the United Nations secretary-general in Geneva to discuss the Cyprus problem, for the umpteenth time, going back ...
Hurtling towards a real-life Hunger Games
Since his election as president, Donald Trump has made sweeping changes to US national policy, yet the most underreported and equally important issue has been the cuts to humanitarian aid ...
What Singapore got right and Cyprus didn’t
Unfortunately, make believe about 60 being the new 70, and 50 being the new 60, etc, just doesn’t work after a while. When the body starts sending us stern messages about its malfunction, ...
The Christmas we get we deserve
“I believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake is a song that’s played on the radio and in shops each Christmas all over the UK and in many other ...
Why do we still prefer to hide behind ‘big powers’?
According to Google maps, the Ledra Palace hotel in the buffer zone in Nicosia is a nine-minute drive from the Greek Cypriot leader’s workplace, and an eight-minute walk from ...
Tatar-Christodoulides ‘chat’: the deal that could have been
Today, GwikiLeaks issued transcripts of hundreds of pages of extraordinary secret conversations between Sonic Christofoolides and Resin Tartar, leaders of the two Cypress communities. These reveal a surprising level of ...
Twenty years on, trade across the divide remains a trickle
Earlier this month, the European Commission adopted the “2024 Annual Action Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community to facilitate Cyprus’ reunification and to support the socio-economic development of the community”.
But 20 ...
From animal cruelty to political inconsistencies
Now that the bronze, silver and gold dust has settled, we can perhaps reflect on the Paris Olympics 2024.
The Olympic games are a gift to us all from the ancient ...
The monumental carnage taking place in Gaza
In December 2023, I wrote an article about the Israel-Palestine conflict which reflected many people’s abhorrence of the murder and abductions of innocent Israeli civilians when the Hamas militia launched ...
Turkish Invasion: 50 years
Did we really need to have so many episodes of violence?
I am with Maria Angela Holguin, personal envoy of the UN secretary-general all the way with her almost poetic open letter to the people of Cyprus about the 60+ year old “...