Nicosia Uncut

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...

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...

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 […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 38: Turkey...

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı host Dr. Alexandra Novosseloff, the author of the EPON report titled "Assessing the Effectiveness of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) and the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus (OSASG)". What does the report entail? What kind of work does the UN do behind the scenes to prevent c...

Difficult times for Ukraine and for the world peace in general! While Russia's attack on Ukraine continues to create a humanitarian tragedy in the heart of Europe, there are lessons for Cypriots who are living in frozen conflict on the island. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discusses how the war in Ukraine must teach the Cypriots the need to end their o...

Since the collapse of the talks in Crans Montana, Anastasiades government has dedicated all its foreign policy capital in isolating Turkey through various diplomatic tools. Apart from a number of regional agreements (which were highlighted with tantamount ceremonies), the Republic of Cyprus has used its EU membership to push, unsuccessfully, for European sanctions against Turkey. […] The pos...

Cyprus is the land of impossible fantasies. One side thinks that the international community is now ready to accept a “two-state solution” in Cyprus, the other tries to play a global chess-game with a non-feasible, unrealistic “East Med Pipeline Project”, something which was doomed to fail from the beginning. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, […] The post Nicosia Uncu...

The Turkish Cypriot economy is badly hit following the meltdown of the Turkish lira. Being an import oriented economy based on services, economy in the north was already fragile due to the pandemic. The depreciation of the Turkish lira affected northern part of the island even more than Turkey since the slider at the volume […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 33: TCs hit by currency, RoC’s...

In this special episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss and analyse the content, context and the implications of the leaked UN minutes with the delegations on the last day (6 July 2017) of the Cyprus conference in Crans Montana which ended without any agreement. Also known as "Crash Montana", the failure effectively ended the efforts to find a solution to the Cy...

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı explore the reconciliation initiatives in Cyprus - Home for Cooperation, Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus, Cyprus Dialogue Forum, Famagusta Avenue Garage and The Base by Cyprusinno are few to name. In the local politics, Turkish Cypriot right wing UBP party had a leadership race, electing Dr. Faiz Sucuoğl...

Summer is over and all sides are now focused on upcoming elections on both parts of the divide in Cyprus and in Turkey. Turkish Cypriot minority coalition finally collapsed the day after this episode was recorded. Both Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus have presidential elections in 2023 and the tension around the waters of […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 30: More elections, more tensio...

Anastasiades invited the Turkish Cypriots back to the 1960 constitutional order as a response to Tatar’s statements in a never-ending tit-for-tat blame game. This caught everybody by surprise, including his own cabinet members. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss the latest in Cyprus politics with a particular focus on […] The post Nicosi...

In the heat of August, Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı explain how the Cyprus problem continues to pose problems in all walks of life: This time on the registry of vaccinated Turkish Cypriots and non-recognition of their documentation. To the north of the island, in Turkey, AKP government which has been in […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 28: Divided ove...

On 19-20 July 2021, during his visit in Cyprus, Turkey’s President has reiterated their position that they now support a two-state solution for the solution of the Cyprus problem and announced partial opening of Varosha in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions. A wave of international reactions started to pour in. In this episode […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 27: ‘Two...

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut; Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss the internal and external political motives of Turkey when it comes to the Cyprus problem on the eve of Turkish President Erdoğan's visit to Varosha. They also elaborated on the rather ineffective response of the Greek Cypriot leadership to the developments; how Turkish Cypriots are now by-passed with the new Turki...

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı analyse the outcome of Republic of Cyprus parliamentary election result. A total of 366,608 out of 557,836 registered voters or 65.72% have voted. The abstention amounted to 191,228 votes or 34.28%. The parties that entered 56 seated parliament are Democratic Rally (DISY) 27.77% - 17 seats; Progressive Party of Working Peo...

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı respond to the feedback they have received to their recent episodes. The questions and feedback include the relations between corruption and division; role of the United Nations and the European Union in the Cyprus peace process; and what they needed to do in order to contribute to the peace process more positively. On the...

Informal 5+1 conference on Cyprus, with the participation of two Cypriot sides and three guarantor powers as well as the UN, ended with failure at the UN headquarters in Geneva. Positions of the sides were not bridgeable and the UN Secretary General announced his intention to gather sides once more for another informal summit. Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı provi...

In this episode we have had a special guest. Retired Ambassador Selim Kuneralp served in the Turkish foreign ministry for more than 40 years at various high-level positions and in this episode he answered our questions regarding the latest developments in the Cyprus problem, regional & global politics and shared his personal assessments on the relevant topics. It was a real pleasure to host su...

Today’s episode is special as Nicosia Uncut produers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı are hosting Dr. Sertaç Sonan, one of the academics behind a survey titled: “Politics and Society in North Cyprus” and published by Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The report focused on the differences and similarities between native Turkish Cypriots and Turkish immigrants who came […] The post Ni...

Podcasting from both sides of the divide in Nicosia-Cyprus, Andromachi Sophocleous & Kemal Baykallı are producing the popular politics podcast - Nicosia Uncut. In this episode, they discuss the conclusions of the latest EU Council meeting and provide a background in the global and regional politics. While the new US Administration is trying to restore the American foreign policy around containing...

In this slightly extended and longer version of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı explain how the internationals are now in the driving seat of the Cyprus solution process. Strategic power games in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as corruption scandals, mass protests, mismanagement and decreasing legitimacy of administrations on both sides of the divide are unfolding in pa...

Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss Cyprus problem ahead of the informal 5+1 conference: expected strategy, basic assumptions, diplomatic leaks, involvement of the internationals, and how corruption is affecting the course of the peace process in Cyprus. Before 2004, the Cyprus solution process was mainly driven by the international community. Following the rejection of the […]...

The first episode of 2021. Andromachi Sophocleous & Kemal Baykallı talk about their favorite topic: The Cyprus problem!.What is the UN's strategy to revitalize the solution process? What should we expect from the informal 5+1 conference which is expected to take place soon? How should we read the latest Cyprus report of the UN Secretary General to the UN Security Council? Which are the elephants i...

In this last episode of 2020, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı discuss what 2021 is likely to bring under four themes: Cyprus problem, local politics, normalization (pandemic, crossings, economy) and regional&global international politics. Nicosia Uncut continue to provide an insight from an independent Cypriot perspective free from official narratives. 00:00 Introduction 02:17 Cyprus pro...