NICOSIA: Cyprus said on Monday it would revoke 14 passports issued to Turkish Cypriot officials in the breakaway north of the island over their “hostile” actions.
Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos did not specify which officials were being targeted, but said the decision was linked to Turkish and Turkish Cypriot plans to open up the ghost town of Varosha.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said last month they would reopen part of the former resort, abandoned since Ankara’s 1974 invasion of the island.
“The cabinet decided to revoke, not renew or issue Republic of Cyprus passports to a number of persons who either participate in the pseudo-state’s cabinet or are members of the Varosha opening committee,” Pelekanos said.
The actions of these officials “undermine the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Cyprus,” he said.
The official Cyprus News Agency said 14 passports would be revoked — 10 held by cabinet members and four by members of the Varosha committee.
“Their specific hostile actions against the Republic of Cyprus promote the implementation of Turkey’s plans to change the status of Varosha, contrary to United Nations resolutions,” Pelekanos added.
Turkish troops seized the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 in response to an aborted coup in Nicosia aiming at uniting the island with Greece.
The Republic of Cyprus, whose overwhelming majority is Greek Cypriot and which has been a European Union member since 2004, has effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island.
Only Ankara recognizes the breakaway self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Turkish Cypriots are eligible for a Republic of Cyprus identity card and passport, which allows them free access to the EU.
Media reports said that Tatar obtained a passport in 2000 but that he never used it and would happily return it.
The EU has told Turkey to reverse plans to open up Varosha. In July, the 27-nation bloc which includes the Republic of Cyprus, condemned “Turkey’s unilateral steps and the unacceptable announcements.”
It is estimated that more than 100,000 Turkish Cypriots hold either a Republic of Cyprus ID card or passport.
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Cyprus to revoke passports of Turkish Cypriot officials
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Cyprus to revoke passports of Turkish Cypriot officials
- Cyprus said it will revoke 14 passports — 10 held by cabinet members and four by members of the Varosha committee
- Turkish Cypriots are eligible for a Republic of Cyprus identity card and passport, which allows them free access to the EU
Russia’s war footing may remain after Ukraine war, Latvia spy chief warns
MUNICH: Russia will not end the militarization of its economy after fighting in Ukraine ends, the head of Latvia’s intelligence agency told AFP on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference which ends Sunday.
“The potential aggressiveness of Russia when the Ukraine war stops will depend of many factors: How the war ends, if it’s frozen or not, and if the sanctions remain,” Egils Zviedris, director of the Latvian intelligence service SAB, told AFP.
Some observers believe that Russia has so thoroughly embraced a war economy and full military mobilization that it will be difficult for it to reverse course, and that this could push Moscow to launch further offensives against European territories.
Zviedris said that lifting current sanctions “would allow Russia to develop its military capacities” more quickly.
He acknowledged that Russia has drawn up military plans to potentially attack Latvia and its Baltic neighbors, but also said that “Russia does not pose a military threat to Latvia at the moment.”
“The fact that Russia has made plans to invade the Baltics, as they have plans for many things, does not mean Russia is going to attack,” Zviedris told AFP.
However, the country is subject to other types of threats from Moscow, particularly cyberattacks, according to the agency he leads.
The SAB recently wrote in its 2025 annual report that Russia poses the main cyber threat to Latvia, because of broader strategic goals as well as Latvia’s staunch support of Ukraine.
The threat has “considerably increased” since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it said.
The agency has also warned that Russia is seeking to exploit alleged grievances of Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltics — and in Latvia in particular.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly claimed to be preparing cases against Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the UN International Court of Justice over the rights of their Russian-speaking minorities.
“The aim of litigation: to discredit Latvia on an international level and ensure long-term international pressure on Latvia to change its policy toward Russia and the Russian-speaking population,” the report said.
In 2025, approximately 23 percent of Latvia’s 1.8 million residents identified as being of Russian ethnicity, according to the national statistics office.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Latvian authorities decided to require Russian speakers residing in the country to take an exam to assess their knowledge of the Latvian language — with those failing at potential risk of deportation.
“The potential aggressiveness of Russia when the Ukraine war stops will depend of many factors: How the war ends, if it’s frozen or not, and if the sanctions remain,” Egils Zviedris, director of the Latvian intelligence service SAB, told AFP.
Some observers believe that Russia has so thoroughly embraced a war economy and full military mobilization that it will be difficult for it to reverse course, and that this could push Moscow to launch further offensives against European territories.
Zviedris said that lifting current sanctions “would allow Russia to develop its military capacities” more quickly.
He acknowledged that Russia has drawn up military plans to potentially attack Latvia and its Baltic neighbors, but also said that “Russia does not pose a military threat to Latvia at the moment.”
“The fact that Russia has made plans to invade the Baltics, as they have plans for many things, does not mean Russia is going to attack,” Zviedris told AFP.
However, the country is subject to other types of threats from Moscow, particularly cyberattacks, according to the agency he leads.
The SAB recently wrote in its 2025 annual report that Russia poses the main cyber threat to Latvia, because of broader strategic goals as well as Latvia’s staunch support of Ukraine.
The threat has “considerably increased” since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it said.
The agency has also warned that Russia is seeking to exploit alleged grievances of Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltics — and in Latvia in particular.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly claimed to be preparing cases against Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the UN International Court of Justice over the rights of their Russian-speaking minorities.
“The aim of litigation: to discredit Latvia on an international level and ensure long-term international pressure on Latvia to change its policy toward Russia and the Russian-speaking population,” the report said.
In 2025, approximately 23 percent of Latvia’s 1.8 million residents identified as being of Russian ethnicity, according to the national statistics office.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Latvian authorities decided to require Russian speakers residing in the country to take an exam to assess their knowledge of the Latvian language — with those failing at potential risk of deportation.
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