LAST MONTH might prove to be just like any month, any February of any year in the calendar cycle. Or it could prove to be the month that saw a fundamental shift in Turkish policy on Cyprus and the obstinate conflict that refuses to be quiet.
Three key Turkish figures in the top echelons of power broke new ground, opening backchannels of communication with Greek Cypriots for the first time in decades.
Mid-February, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu invited Greek Cypriot representatives of academia and civil society to his offices in Ankara to discuss Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus problem... 17 comments

THE stated aim of International Women’s Day, celebrated tomorrow, may well be the economic, political and social achievements of women, but for one group of women it is a chance to publicise the plight of divorced women.
The Pancyprian Divorced Women’s Association is marking the day by demonstrating outside the Presidential Palace to demand changes to what the woman say are grossly unfair and out-dated divorce laws.
“Under existing laws women can be forced to pay their ex-husband’s mortgage debts and ex-husbands can take property previously owned by their wives,” says association president Loulla Savvidou. Courts also make inadequate provision for the collection of child support payments, she added... Read on

TIME WAS that you went to Syria for a weekend to scoop up cheap carpets and curtains. Nowadays it’s more likely to be in search of a cut-price Hollywood smile.
Cosmetic dental surgery, such as veneers, and dental implants are now de rigeur, but in Cyprus they do not come cheap. In nearby Syria they do, which is why around 800 Cypriots each year are travelling to get the procedures done at a fraction of the cost.
“One whole plane, when I went, was full of people going to get their teeth done!” exclaims 42-year-old Panayiota Christofias, a recent visitor to Syria for dental tourism.
Some years ago, Panayiota had visited a local dentist and been quoted a cost of 10,750 euros to replace a missing tooth with an implant, six veneers and three root canals... 2 comments

March – the month of expectation
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An exhibition in Nicosia next weekend will showcase green technologies available for home owners, reflecting a growing interest in the sector. ELENI ANTONIOU reports
Flipping through a bunch of EU Project Reports on renewable energy, the one thing that catches my eye are the words ‘budget’ and ‘contribution’; the latter is accompanied by ’50 per cent’. This, without a doubt, is one of the main reasons the citizens of Cyprus have finally begun to embrace the government’s attempts to bring CO2 emissions down and put those abundant renewable resources to good use... Read on

As a migraine sufferer NICOLA MAKARITIS has struggled for years but a new pill available in Cyprus has proved to put an end to her pain... 6 comments

THE GOVERNMENT will soon examine the issue of making same-sex marriages legal in Cyprus, Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides has told the Sunday Mail.
Savvides said that the intention is to hold a meeting next month involving the Attorney-general’s office, Law Commissioner Leda Koursoumba, Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou – who also heads the Authority against Racism and Discrimination – as well as senior representatives of the relevant government ministries... 13 comments

 
THE ADOPTED son of a couple with Cypriot citizenship fears new efforts will be made to deport him as his residence permit comes to an end.
The 23-year-old Syrian was adopted at the age of 15 by his mother’s brother, a Cypriot citizen, and his Cypriot wife, but bureaucratic delays meant the adopted son became an adult before he could apply for citizenship, making his stay in Cyprus a precarious one... 1 comment

When asked to sum up his personality, Dave Wentworth describes himself as calm, composed, patient and able to obliterate from his mind any form of distraction. All essential qualifications for someone who routinely killed people with a clean head shot at a range of up to 1,200 metres.
Wentworth was one of the British army’s elite snipers, men selected from the ranks to undergo special intensive training in order to take on one of the most demanding and psychologically menacing jobs in the military... 11 comments

BULGARIA IS mostly known in Cyprus for its mobile workforce, snowy mountains, beautiful women and problems with corruption, as highlighted when it joined the EU in 2007.
However, ties between the two countries go deeper and further back than EU membership. Two hundred years ago, Bulgarian rebels fighting the Ottomans were captured and brought to Nicosia. During their imprisonment, they developed strong friendships with the locals while one captive even wrote an informative diary on Nicosia life in the 1800s.
Bulgaria was one of the first countries to recognise Cypriot independence in 1960, leading to this year’s celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries... Read on