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Join Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli as they unpack the latest developments in the Cyprus issue following UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' recent visit to the island. With only months left in his term, Guterres met the two leaders, representatives of civil society, the technical committees, and spoke with the Guarantor Powers in an effort to inject new momentum into the peace process. The outcome? An agreement to convene a new 5+1 informal conference. While no date has yet been announced, Guterres made clear that he expects meaningful progress on confidence-building measures, methodology, and substance to give the meeting the best possible chance of success. What does this mean for Cyprus? Is this another diplomatic milestone—or simply another stop along a familiar road? Tune in as Andromachi and Kemal break down the latest developments, explore what happened behind the scenes, and discuss what could come next for the Cyprus talks. The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 66: Guterres came. Guterres left. What now? (2/8/2026) first appeared on Island Talks.

In the last month of 2025, Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli produced two consecutive and special episodes. Recorded a few days after the first part, the second part focuses on the outcome of the first meeting of leaders with the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar. What are the […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 65: Will negotiations resume in 2026? (Part 2) (23/12/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

In the last month of 2025, Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli produced two consecutive and special episodes. The first episode focused on the election of Tufan Erhürman in the first round with 63% vote as well as the internal and external dynamics leading to the replacement of previous Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 64: What does the election of Tufan Erhürman mean? (Part 1) (9/12/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

The Turkish Cypriots will go to the ballots to elect a Turkish Cypriot leader on 19 October 2025. The main contenders are the incumbent Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who has been adovcating a two-state solution for the solution of the Cyprus problem and Tufan Erhürman, leader of the opposition, who advocates returning to the […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 63: One week before the critical Turkish Cypriot election: What to expect? (13/10/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this special episode of Nicosia Uncut, UN Secretary General’s outgoing Special Representative and Head of UNFICYP Colin Stewart responded questions by Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli, as well by the podcast audience. Is UN part of the status-quo in Cyprus? What is his assessment for the future? Do we need to revise the job-description […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 62: UNSG Special Representative Colin Stewart answered your questions (7/8/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

On the 51st anniversary of 1974 events, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli host Cey Sesigüzel and Andreas Tokkallos, co-producers of "The Divided Island" documentary at Nicosia Uncut podcast. These two British-Cypriot filmmakers of Two Fresh Productions are hailing from both communities and they featured real stories of Cypriots from various generations. The work is a striking contrast to the official narratives and propaganda of sides and provides humanitarian stories from the past in the first part, and a vision for the future in the second. The documentary that won the Best Documentary Feature at South London Film Festival, features James Ker-Lindsay, Andrekos Varnava, Sylvia Zacharia, Yaşar Ismailoǧlu, Tom Fortis-Mayer, Christina Pavlou, Suleyman Camgoz, Nick Yiannoullou, Sevgül Uludaǧ, Serife Gül, Ipek Özerim, and Nicosia Uncut producers Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli. It can be watched at: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thedividedisland The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 61: The Divided Island – “The generational trauma is real and profound” (16/7/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this epsiode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı host Nilgün Arısan Eralp, Director of European Union Institute of TEPAV, a leading policy and research centre in Türkiye. Latest state of affairs in Turkish-Greek political dialogue; how will this affect the Cyprus problem? Is it possible to talk about repositioning of the EU towards Turkey? Should we expect Turkey to play an upgraded role in a possible new defence architecture in Europe? Is the EU turning a blind eye to the democratic backsliding in Turkey? What is Turkey's vision towards Cyprus? Is Israel against a power-sharing mechanism in Cyprus? What should we expect from the upcoming Turkish Cypriot elections? The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 60: Special guest Nilgün Arısan Eralp – Will Turkey and Greece finally solve their differences ? (10/7/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

On 17 and 18 March, the Cypriot leaders and the guarantor powers met with the UN Secretary General in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting was named as informal and nobody was sure what the expected outcome would be as the positions of the sides were clearly not bridgable. In the end, a number of confidence building measures were announced. Appointment of a new envoy was also agreed. In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli discuss the result of the informal meeting, the new format of the Cyprus talks, geopolitical setting, strained relations on both sides of the Atlantic, and what's next for Cyprus! The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 59: Geneva done. What’s now for Cyprus and where is the EU in this? (25/3/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli host Fiona Mullen, Director of Sapienta Economics. A 5 party conference on Cyprus is scheduled to take place on 17/18 March 2025 at the UN in Geneva. Apart from the two Cypriot sides, the Guarantor powers, Turkey, Greece and the UK will be represented. […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 58: Cyprus problem in Geneva again: What should we expect? (22/2/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this first Nicosia Uncut episode of 2025, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykalli host Dr.Nasia Hadjigeorgiou and Fezile Osum to discuss the bicommunal technical committees that have been established within the framework of Cyprus problem. Both Fezile and Nasia are running the EU funded InPeace Project (Inclusive Peacebuilding: The Technical Committees in Cyprus ) that studies […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 57: InPeace project elaborates on the bicommunal technical committees in Cyprus (20/1/2025) first appeared on Island Talks.

Following Guterres’ dinner with the Cypriot leaders in New York, an agreement has been reached to continue informal meetings with the participation of the Guarantor powers. The participation of the UK might not be at the same level as the other two, as the official position of the Turkish/Turkish Cypriot side has been for the […] The post Nicosia Uncut – Episode 56: Multiparty meeting: each side sees it differently (18/11/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.

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.