DISY - Island Talks

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 47: Age of apolitical & discussion on unilateral CBMs in CY (30/4/2023)

Nicos Christodoulides met with Menelaos Menelaou and members of the technical committees to discuss possible initiatives.

It has been 20 years since the crossings across the division line in Cyprus started. It is clear that the existing crossings are not enough. Should we expect unilareral initiatives by the Greek Cypriot side on this? While the elections in Turkey are underway, is it possible to talk about a new era for the Cyprus problem? Depolitization of political parties, critical look to the political scene on the island, by-elections in the north, first diplomatic test of the new DISY leader and new developments in the saga of natural resources around Cyprus. Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli discuss…

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 46: Turkish opposition chooses the candidate to challenge Erdoğan (19/3/2023)

Election in Cyprus is over as Turkey is now on the eve of the historical election that will take place on 14 May 2023. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss the cabinet of the newly elected Greek Cypriot president. Turkish opposition finally agreed on their candidate: CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will be challenging Erdoğan. The mayors of Istanbul and Ankara will support his campaign together with the other opposition leaders. Back in Cyprus, DISY has elected Annita Demetriou, speaker of the House of Representatives, as the new party leader.

Decode Cyprus – Episode 5: Decoding the presidential campaign (2/10/2022)

Cypriot journalists Lefteris Adilinis and Esra Aygın provide an informative analysis on candidates and their strategies in the presidential elections of Republic of Cyprus, 2023. While former Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides continues to lead the polls; Andreas Mavrogiannis and Averof Neofithou, of AKEL and DISY respectively, trail behind. Other independent candidates are searching ways to unite their forces under a single candidate. We are fast approaching toward the end of 2022 and there seems to be a general belief that no candidate will secure enough votes to pull the plug in the first round.

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 40: Presidential race gearing up; yet another UN representative under attack (26/7/2022)

After a summer brake, Nicosia Uncut is back with the latest political developments in Cyprus. Three leading presidential candidates participated in the first debate on PIK, Cyprus state channel, discussing their perspectives on the Cyprus problem. All three candidates, namely DISY leader Averof Neofytou, AKEL's candidate former negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulides, have been the main figures in current President Anastasides' administration. On the other hand, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have sent out his 6-monthly report on UNFICYP and UN Good Offices in Cyprus to the UN Security Council. The content triggered attacks on Colin Stewart, UN chief in Cyprus, by pro-government media. Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli discuss the political developments on both sides of the divide on the island.

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 39: RoC elections – three candidates of the establishment (16/5/2022)

Artwork by George Gavriel

Legacy of Anastasiades seems to be dominating the political scene in Cyprus in the coming term as well. Early favorites of the Presidential race, DISY's Neophytou, currently independent Christodoules and AKEL's potential candidate Mavroyiannis have been the aces of Anastasiades' team during his rule. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı shed a critical light on the system that fails to generate strong alternative candidates backed by the leading political parties in Cyprus. The latest meltdown of institutions and the system in the Turkish Cypriot political was also discussed.

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 38: Turkey firms its grip on Turkish Cypriot politics (3/5/2022)

UBP leader Dr. Faiz Sucuoğlu

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss how Turkey is firming its grip in the Turkish Cypriot politics as the right-wing coalition of UBP leader Dr Faiz Sucuoğlu collapses yet again due to his apparent fall-out with cabinet members supported by Turkey's AKP leadership. True, this is not the first time Turkey is interfering in the Turkish Cypriot politics but the extend in which Turkey's AKP leadership is involved in deciding the cabinet names is rather new. In the Greek Cypriot politics, opposition AKEL is still trying to decide on its candidate as the…

Nicosia Uncut – Episode 15: Conservative agendas on both sides of the divide…and abroad (19/12/2020)

Governing party right-wing DISY flirts with ultra right ELAM but the budget was rejected in the parliament. A fragile minority coalition on the other side of the divide. Turkey and Turkish Cypriots are now back to singing the old two-state solution tune, while UN official Lute is visiting capitals for a possible informal five-party conference. 2020 is almost over and this episode does not portray a rosy picture. #Cyprus