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Nicosia Uncut

Nicosia Uncut

Author: Andromachi Sophocleous & Kemal Baykallı

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Cold, hard, truth from the divided capital of Cyprus.

Andromachi Sophocleous & Kemal Baykallı, two peace activists/political analysts from the island of Cyprus, provide a unique and informed perspective on Cyprus-related politics, undoing official narratives dominating the discussion when it comes to Cyprus.
55 Episodes
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The two Cypriot leaders have agreed to meet for a “social dinner” at the presence of the UN Secretary General. The expectations are low as sides have shown no signs of departure from their respective positions. While the Turkish Cypriot side is adamant on their so called “two states” position, which is vocally and openly […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 55: A dinner, but hardly a date (7/10/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.
After a short break, Nicosia Uncut is back with Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli discussing the recent attempts of UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin with the Cypriot leaders. There isn’t a lot of hope for a breakthrough for ther resumption of talks but are we going to see any result at all? A confidence building […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 54: July is the month of Cyprob (1/7/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.
In this episode of Nicosia Uncut; Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli host Fiona Mullen, Director of Sapienta Economics and the producer of Figure It podcast. Fiona has been studying, advising and in the past working on the Cyprus settlement process for more than two decades now. In this episode, they discuss what needs to be […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 53: Special guest Fiona Mullen: How can we revitalize the solution process ? (6/3/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus Maria Angela Holguín Cuéllar has arrived on the island and started her work by paying a visit to the Cypriot leaders. This new initiative to revive the talks, which collapsed in Crans Montana conference in 2017, is defined as an attempt to find a “common ground” for the […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 52: Million dollar question: What is Holguin’s endgame? (1/2/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.
Turkish-Greek reapproachment, appointment of a new envoy for Cyprus talks, ongoing failure of the international community to address burning issues in the world and establishment of a new political party in Cyprus. In this last episode of the year, Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli look back to 2023 with a critical eye. […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 51: Is there light at the end of the tunnel? (10/12/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
Is Cyprus a “frozen” conflict? What are the risk of it getting melted? As the so called frozen and fluid conflicts turning into active conflicts everywhere in the world, shouldn’t Cypriots be worried? What are the lessons the Cypriots and the international community take from the ongoing conflics in Ukraine, Nogorno Karabakh and Israel/Palestine? In […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 50: Frozen! (14/11/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus has been attacked by the Turkish Cypriot police in the buffer zone close to Pyla village during an ongoing work of fixing a road to connect the bicommunal village to the Turkish Cypriot controlled areas. While the Turkish & Turkish Cypriot side citing humanitarian reasons, the international community as […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 49: Status-quo in Cyprus is an illusion (21/8/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
We are drowned in elections. Elections in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. Do we have any time or window of opportunity to discuss politics – Cyprus problem in particular? In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı evaluate the results of elections in Turkey and Greece as well as the upcoming by-elections in […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 48: Drowning in elections – CyProb anyone? (31/5/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
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 […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 47: Age of apolitical & discussion on unilateral CBMs in CY (30/4/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
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 […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 46: Turkish opposition chooses the candidate to challenge Erdoğan (19/3/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
While the Turkish Cypriots are mourning for 49 members of their community, including the entire members of two junior volleyball school teams from Famagusta, who lost their lives in the major earthquake that hit Turkey; second round of presidential campaign has been concluded on the other side of the divide. Nikos Christodoulides has been elected […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 45: Nikos Christodoulides is the new president of RoC. What now? (17/2/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
In this first episode of 2023, Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı analyze the upcoming elections in Cyprus, Turkey and Greece as well as the recent local elections in north. While the positions of presidential candidates in the Republic of Cyprus are more clear now, in the context of Cyprus problem not much […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 44: 2023 – the year of elections! (26/1/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.
In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı criticize the political establishments on both sides of the divide and highlight the efforts of the civil society to resist partition. Political establishments on the both sides of the divide fail to address the division of the country while the forces of status quo […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 43: Sleepwalking towards destruction – civil society is resisting (17/11/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli shed a critical light on the presidential race in Republic of Cyprus: seems like the political programs are not the main pillars of this elections. A rather superficial race on slogans, characters and personalities, the candidates, save for exceptions, do not offer tangible political programs to the voters. The US has lifted the arms embargo on Cyprus and this created further tensions in the area which is witnessing harsh exchanges between the politicians in Turkey and Greece. Turkey continues to exert pressure to design politics in the Turkish Cypriot political life and this creates further reactions among the opposition circles. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 42: Presidential race with no politics (3/10/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
It is now crystal clear that solution of the Cyprus problem was actually within the reach during 2016 and 2017 summits, it took five years for the Greek Cypriot politics to question the Greek Cypriot leadership's share of responsibility in the failure. While the establishment is fighting the last ditch battle to save Anastasiades and his team from any responsibility by throwing leaked minutes one after another to support their line of interpretation, every new statement from the negotiation team members, every leaked document prove otherwise. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı question how the leading mainstream media organ is acting like a mouthpiece and a shield instead of carrying out their journalistic duties. While the battle over the records of failed talks is far from over, no presidential candidate seem to offer a realistic strategy on how to resume the talks to solve the Cyprus problem. On the other side of the divide Tatar is under fire, once more, for attending the ceremony of the fifth Islamic Games, taking place in Turkey, while the Turkish Cypriot athletes were not allowed to compete. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 41: Battle over the records of failed talks (14/8/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 40: Presidential race gearing up; yet another UN representative under attack (26/7/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 39: RoC elections – three candidates of the establishment (16/5/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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 firms its grip on Turkish Cypriot politics (3/5/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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 crisis to occur? What are the relations between the conflict-prevention and peacemaking in the Cypriot context? How does the "fear of recognition" affect the work of the UN? The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 37: Discussing effectiveness of the UN in Cyprus with Dr.Alexandra Novosseloff (15/4/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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 own conflict since they have been living on a powder keg for many decades. Harsh statements by the Russian Ambassador in Nicosia, upon the decision of the Republic of Cyprus to close its airspace as this is also a common decision of the EU, created a resentment among various circles. Anastasiades government, however, is trying to go below the radar instead of taking a determined position against the Russian invasion. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 36: War in Ukraine and the lessons for Cypriots (10/3/2022) first appeared on Island Talks.
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