According to the latest information, the three victims are Indian nationals, while the suspected attackers’ nationalities have not yet been established.

Investigators believe the attackers spoke Greek and English.

The motive remains unclear, and police investigations are continuing.

How the attack unfolded

The incident occurred at around 8.30pm on Saturday, November 7, when more than 10 people unlawfully entered a house in Strovolos and attacked three men aged 22, 24 and 25 who lived there.

The attackers stole the residents’ mobile phones and an undisclosed amount of cash from the 22-year-old’s bedroom.

The two older victims, aged 24 and 25, went to Nicosia General Hospital, where they underwent medical examinations, received treatment and were discharged.

Police officers examined the scene and collected evidence.

During subsequent searches in the area, officers found one of the three stolen mobile phones in a field near the house.

Nicosia Criminal Investigation Department is continuing its investigation.

School curricula place such strong emphasis on national, moral and cultural values that these take precedence over scientific, evidence-based learning. Religious groups are gaining increasing influence in schools, while Turkey’s entertainment industry is reshaping the country’s history to fit the narrative promoted under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The propaganda machinery is built at home before being exported across the world. Africa and Asia are the main priorities, but South America and Europe are also targets.

What the European Commission found

The Commission’s 2026 report may not use the word “Islamisation” to describe Erdogan’s Turkey, but its findings speak for themselves.

Education increasingly shaped by national and religious values

The “Century of Turkey Education Model”, a skills-oriented curriculum introduced in 2024, is being implemented gradually and already applies to grades two, six and nine.

The strong emphasis on national, moral and cultural values in the new curricula takes precedence over scientific and evidence-based learning.

Vocational education and training schools and religious schools account for approximately 40.6% of enrolments in Turkey’s upper secondary education, with persistent gender imbalances.

Religious organisations gaining influence in schools

The Ministry of National Education is increasingly allowing religious groups and structures linked to tarikats, or Sufi religious orders, to influence the education system.

According to the Commission, this trend threatens to undermine secular, high-quality education and weakens mechanisms for oversight and accountability.

A ministry circular issued in February 2026 concerning Ramadan activities in schools reignited debate about secularism and pluralism in education.

The education minister initiated legal proceedings against intellectuals and civil society organisations that had spearheaded a declaration supporting secularism.

The ministry also renewed a protocol with a youth foundation, allowing it access to thousands of state schools during the summer holidays to provide religious classes, despite Turkey’s Council of State having previously annulled a similar agreement.

Atheists and agnostics face discrimination, stigma, social pressure or restrictions on their right to education.

Turkey’s education system does not guarantee neutrality and impartiality towards different religions, denominations and beliefs.

No measures have been taken to address shortcomings identified by the European Court of Human Rights concerning compulsory religious culture and ethics classes.

During the reporting period, children from Protestant families were required to choose one of four optional Sunni religious courses, despite being entitled to an exemption.

Cultural diversity and independent voices under pressure

In the cultural sector, structural problems persist despite increased activities and festivals at national and local levels, as well as investment in infrastructure.

These problems particularly concern support for cultural diversity and institutional coordination.

The wider environment continues to undermine pluralism and leaves little room for independent organisations and critical voices.

Public spending on culture remains relatively low.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism continued promoting large-scale events without ensuring transparent participation by stakeholders.

Political interference and arbitrary bans on events continued.

Implementation of UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions remains slow, with no substantial new measures.

Turkey does not participate in the Creative Europe programme for 2021–2027.

These are the developments taking place within Turkey itself.

But Ankara’s activities do not stop at its borders. It has built a well-organised propaganda apparatus designed to export Turkish “culture” in every direction.

The entertainment industry: Ankara’s first step

In the early 2000s, Turkish television series generated approximately $10 million a year in overseas revenue.

Today, export earnings exceed $1 billion, while Turkish productions reach more than one billion viewers in 170 countries, according to Ankara.

Turkey claims to have one of the world’s three largest television industries.

Interest in Turkish content increased by 184% between 2020 and 2023.

The industry operates along two parallel tracks.

The first is commercial: private studios selling melodramas to audiences in Latin America, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Africa.

These programmes do not necessarily convey an ideology. Instead, they create familiarity with Turkish homes, Istanbul and the Turkish language.

The second track is state-driven.

Historical epics produced by the public broadcaster TRT, including Dirilis: Ertugrul, Kurulus: Osman and Payitaht: Abdulhamid, add an ideological narrative.

Ertugrul was sold to 71 countries and translated into 25 languages.

During Ramadan in 2020, more than 130 million people watched it on Pakistan’s state television network.

The series became a screen onto which an entire nation projected its dream of a transnational Muslim community.

Through these productions, Turkey is attempting to rewrite history as it sees it today, rather than as it actually happened. It is constructing its own narrative and promoting it internationally.

The state pays the bill

In February 2026, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced subsidies of up to $100,000 per episode for television series sold abroad.

The eligibility criteria are revealing.

A series must have been broadcast in at least three continents and 10 countries.

It must contribute to promoting Turkey and spreading the Turkish language.

And it must be filmed in tourist destinations selected by the state.

The minister himself described Turkish television series as “the world’s biggest Turkish-language lesson” and said their leading actors would become “tourism ambassadors”.

In August, the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications organised an event titled “The global narrative of Brand Turkey: Turkish TV series”.

The institution accused by the European Commission of political bias is now openly claiming television dramas as one of its own instruments.

Turkey builds its own streaming platform

Ankara does not want to depend on Netflix.

In May 2023, TRT launched its own global streaming platform, tabii, with then-presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun attending the launch.

The languages offered in its first phase tell their own story: Turkish, English, Spanish, Arabic and Urdu.

In other words, the Americas, the Arab world and Pakistan — markets that had already embraced Ertugrul.

The entertainment industry is the first door.

It requires no permission, needs no agreements between governments and enters people’s living rooms before anything else.

And when Ankara’s narrative is challenged, it does not hesitate to apply pressure.

In 2024, following protests by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, Netflix suspended the international release of Famagusta, a series about the 1974 invasion of Cyprus.

Ankara’s 17 arms of influence

Behind every Turkish school in the Sahel, every mosque in the Balkans and every Turkish television series broadcast in Pakistan stands a state institution.

There are at least 17 of them.

In 2026, the organisations operating abroad have a combined budget of approximately €475 million, excluding TRT’s international operations.

The entire Turkish Foreign Ministry has a budget of around €835 million.

In other words, Turkey spends more than half the equivalent of its diplomatic budget on soft power.

The schools: Training future generations

The Turkey Maarif Foundation was established in 2016 following the attempted coup, with one objective: to take control of schools abroad associated with the Gulen movement.

A decade later, it operates 524 schools in 66 countries, educating more than 75,000 pupils.

This year, it receives up to €134 million from Turkey’s education budget.

It is the same budget that, according to the Commission, leaves 804,000 children out of school within Turkey itself.

Africa is the main arena.

The method is straightforward, as the foundation’s own representatives have explained.

Identify the best pupils, immerse them in Turkish language and culture, and send them to study in Turkey.

There, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) awaits them with its Turkey Scholarships programme.

Around 5,000 scholarships are available each year. In 2026, some 200,000 young people from 164 countries applied.

The chain begins in a kindergarten in Nairobi and ends in a ministerial office where Turkish is spoken.

The imams: Religion as an instrument of influence

The Diyanet, Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, is the largest of these institutions, with a budget of approximately €3.1 billion, although most of the money goes towards salaries within Turkey.

Abroad, it has 77 religious counsellors, 54 religious attachés serving at embassies and more than 1,500 religious officials.

Its International Imam Hatip Programme brings almost 2,000 students from more than 110 countries to Turkey.

The most recent African summit of religious leaders organised by Diyanet in Istanbul attracted muftis and religious affairs ministers from 52 countries.

Religious communities, known as cemaat, operate alongside the state.

Organisations such as the Hudayi Foundation and the Suleymancilar run Islamic religious schools in Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger and Nigeria.

This is the international face of the trend the European Commission identifies within Turkey’s own schools: the state and religious orders working within the same framework.

Language and development aid

The Yunus Emre Institute, Turkey’s equivalent of Germany’s Goethe-Institut, has a budget of approximately €41 million this year.

It is opening new centres in Latin America despite a fraud scandal that led to the arrests of officials.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has around 60 overseas offices and, together with its development cooperation programme, manages approximately €165 million.

It builds hospitals and schools, restores Ottoman monuments and distributes food during Ramadan.

This year, its Ramadan food assistance reached 600,000 people in 89 countries.

Every project carries a Turkish sign and flag.

The occupied north of Cyprus as a testing ground

These organisations are already active in the occupied north of Cyprus.

TIKA opened an office in Nicosia in December 2019, with the leadership of the breakaway administration describing its projects as intended to “preserve and promote the Turkish presence”.

The Yunus Emre Institute also operates a centre in Nicosia.

In 2011, the Hala Sultan School opened as the first Islamic religious secondary school in the occupied part of Cyprus, despite objections from secular Turkish Cypriots.

Alongside it, the Diyanet Foundation built the Hala Sultan Mosque, modelled on the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.

The mosque has a capacity of 7,500 worshippers.

It stands on the road from Tymbou airport, positioned so that every visitor can see it.

In interviews with the Sunday Mail and Politis, Holguín urged the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to agree on a clear negotiating process, including a timetable, agenda and mechanisms for overcoming deadlocks, before substantive talks resume.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, she warned that another failure would seriously undermine the prospects for a settlement, describing the current UN initiative as an important opportunity that should not be lost.

“There will be enormous damage,” she said.

“That is why the UN Secretary-General does not want to proceed with a 5+1 meeting without proper preparation. Things must be different this time, because the feeling is that every failed meeting has widened the differences between the sides even further.”

Holguín also suggested a possible way around the disagreement over a rotating presidency.

She proposed that negotiations begin without preconditions, but with the issue placed first on the agenda. This would allow the two sides to establish from the outset whether an agreement is possible, rather than spending months negotiating before addressing one of their main differences.

Asked about the 19 proposals submitted for discussion by President Nikos Christodoulides last September, Holguín told the Sunday Mail that she had not received a written document outlining them.

She also questioned Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman’s proposed approach to negotiations.

“What Tufan calls methodology is not methodology,” she said.

Holguín explained that a negotiating methodology should set out the procedural steps, timetable, agenda and arrangements for dealing with potential deadlocks.

Six points from Crans-Montana could form negotiating agenda

In her interview with Politis, Holguín stressed that both leaders must agree on a clearly defined process before substantive negotiations can begin.

This should include a specific timetable, an agreed agenda and mechanisms to help overcome disagreements.

She suggested that the six points presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the Crans-Montana negotiations could provide the basis for the agenda.

“The perfect agenda is the six points. Call it whatever you want,” she said.

Asked about the UN document recording the convergences reached during the 2015–2017 negotiations and at Crans-Montana, Holguín said she did not intend to give it to the two leaders before talks began.

She explained that she wanted to avoid disputes over its contents that could revive tensions, as had happened with previous UN documents.

Domestic politics and lack of political will remain obstacles

Holguín also identified domestic politics as one of the biggest obstacles to resolving the Cyprus problem.

Elections and political considerations, she said, affect leaders’ ability to make decisions.

Asked whether political will was lacking, she answered yes, making clear that the problem applied to all sides.

In that context, she raised the possibility of Greek Cypriots considering even a short postponement of the presidential election if they believed it could help achieve progress.

Holguín also acknowledged that the weight of the past continues to affect both communities and efforts towards a settlement.

She posed a fundamental question for the two leaders: whether they want to return to the strong federation that had been under discussion at Crans-Montana.

“What is your destination port? If you know what your final destination is, it is much easier to get on board. This discussion must take place between the two leaders,” she said.

Her remarks underscored the importance of establishing a shared understanding of the outcome both sides are seeking.

Drawing on her experience of peace efforts in Colombia, Holguín said that even after a painful past, it was essential to look towards the future and the next generation.

“I don’t want to sound naive. I know how difficult the past is. But sometimes, even with that past, you have to think that life must be different. I wanted a different country for my son, but also for myself,” she said.

Holguín also noted that regional developments have made the Cyprus problem more complicated, with more actors involved, each pursuing their own interests.

Some, she suggested, might prefer to maintain the status quo.

Nevertheless, she stressed the need to make use of the current opportunity, warning that another failure would come at a significant cost to the prospects of restarting negotiations.

More than 20% of self-identified MAGA loyalists in a sample of online posts expressed doubts about the movement’s leadership and direction following Tuesday’s elections, according to an analysis conducted for Reuters by data intelligence firm PeakMetrics.

The findings reveal growing divisions within a political movement that has dominated the Republican Party for nearly a decade, as supporters turn their anger towards party leaders, White House advisers and, increasingly, Trump himself.

The election delivered Democrats decisive majorities in both chambers of Congress, including victories in traditional Republican strongholds such as Texas and Kansas.

Voter frustration over rising fuel prices, the war with Iran and corruption in Washington contributed to what became the Republicans’ worst electoral defeat in decades.

Yet the reaction within MAGA has been markedly different from the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 presidential defeat.

Claims of widespread election fraud, which helped unite the movement for years, have largely disappeared from the debate. Instead, supporters are demanding answers about the economy, foreign policy and promises they believe the administration has failed to keep.

More than 20% question MAGA’s leadership

The PeakMetrics analysis examined 12,850 posts sampled from approximately 4.6 million Trump-related comments published on X and Reddit between 9pm on election night and 8pm the following evening.

Among the self-described MAGA loyalists identified in the analysis, more than one in five raised concerns about the movement’s leadership and political direction.

About half of those expressing doubts continued to support MAGA but no longer backed Trump as its leader.

The remaining half stayed loyal to the president while criticising his decisions.

Among posts that assigned responsibility for the defeat, nearly a third pointed to the Iran war and Israel’s influence over American policy as factors that had overshadowed Trump’s political message.

A quarter blamed Republicans who had failed to fully embrace MAGA’s agenda.

The findings suggest that some supporters who once regarded Trump as the movement’s greatest political asset are beginning to question whether he has become a liability.

Trump responds by promoting hardline immigration architect

Trump’s first major response to the election came on Friday, when he appointed Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles.

Miller, the principal architect of the administration’s hardline immigration policies, is closely associated with MAGA’s nationalist agenda.

Wiles, by contrast, had been regarded as a stabilising influence in an often chaotic White House.

The appointment was welcomed by some of the movement’s most committed supporters, who interpreted it as a return to MAGA’s anti-immigration roots.

“Exactly the energy we need,” conservative influencer Benny Johnson wrote on X, where he has 4.1 million followers.

“Solid move. It’s Miller Time.”

The White House did not directly answer Reuters’ questions about the election defeat, the losses suffered by candidates who embraced Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, or MAGA’s future.

Instead, it referred to comments Trump made on Wednesday.

“If I were on the ballot, we would have won,” the president said.

He also acknowledged that the Iran war had contributed to the Republican defeat, saying it was “largely true” that the conflict had hurt the party because “it drove the gasoline up”.

Nevertheless, Trump said he would make the same decision again.

Anger erupts among Trump’s own voters

The divisions were visible on election night in Dallas, where supporters of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton had gathered expecting a victory celebration.

Instead, they left the hotel ballroom as the scale of the Republican defeat became clear.

At the hotel bar, Michael Little, a 59-year-old businessman who had voted for Trump three times, watched the president on television.

“People are pissed off at Trump. Trump has cost us,” he told Reuters.

His frustration reflected a broader sentiment emerging from interviews with more than a dozen MAGA activists, influencers, party strategists, Christian nationalist leaders and researchers who monitor right-wing politics.

The interviews, combined with a review of online discussions and podcasts, revealed a movement increasingly directing its anger inwards.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, however, argued that the response should be to reinforce MAGA’s original agenda rather than abandon it.

“We have to rebuild,” Bannon told Reuters.

He called for a more aggressive populist and nationalist programme and praised Trump’s decision to appoint Miller.

“Miller’s appointment as chief of staff underpins my point,” he said.

“There is no more hardcore MAGA proponent than Stephen.”

Democrats’ victory reshapes American politics

The scale of the Republican defeat has dramatically changed the balance of power in Washington.

Democrats could hold as many as 56 of the Senate’s 100 seats, giving them considerable influence over Trump’s future judicial appointments.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that Republicans might struggle to regain control of the Senate before 2032.

“It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States,” DeSantis said during a post-election briefing.

Democrats will also control the governorships of seven battleground states that Trump carried in the 2024 presidential election.

Perhaps most strikingly, they won every statewide contest in Texas, a state that has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976.

‘MAGA is stale’: Supporters blame broken promises

For some prominent right-wing commentators, the defeat has exposed a loss of enthusiasm within Trump’s political base.

Rogan O’Handley, a MAGA influencer known online as DC_Draino, who has 2.3 million followers on X, rejected claims that election fraud explained the result.

“I have been banging the drum of rigged and stolen elections since 2020, but that is not why we lost the midterms,” he wrote.

“We lost because we failed to fix the things voters sent us to do.”

Another conservative influencer, Isabella DeLuca, accused Republican leaders of assuming that MAGA supporters would vote for them regardless of their performance.

DeLuca was among the thousands who entered the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021, attack.

She faced five criminal charges, including the theft of a table from inside the Capitol, and pleaded not guilty. Her case was dismissed after Trump returned to office and pardoned her.

Now 26, DeLuca said Republicans had failed to connect with younger voters concerned about living costs and avoiding foreign wars.

“Republicans were just lazy. They felt like that they were entitled to people’s votes and that people would vote for them no matter what,” she told Reuters.

“It goes to show you that you do have to earn people’s votes, and that even in a super red state like Texas, you’re not untouchable.”

She described MAGA as looking tired.

Research by Jennifer Golbeck, a University of Maryland professor who has analysed MAGA-related online activity since 2016, points to a similar decline in enthusiasm.

Golbeck found that engagement among some of Trump’s most committed supporters had steadily declined since January.

Posts and comments on Patriots.Win, a popular MAGA forum, fell by 27%.

“The enthusiasm and the passion even among this hardest core group of supporters hasn’t really been there,” she said.

“They are saying that ‘MAGA is stale.’ It’s not new and exciting like it once was.”

Fox News, a longstanding platform for MAGA commentators, also experienced a decline in its audience ahead of the elections.

According to Nielsen, the network’s total daytime viewership fell by 27% in October compared with the same month a year earlier.

Fox News responded by highlighting its performance against competing cable news channels on election night.

“FOX News has been the number one network in cable news for a quarter century,” spokesperson Caley Cronin said.

Economy, Iran war and Epstein files deepen divisions

The cost of living was not the only issue frustrating MAGA supporters.

Many also criticised the war with Iran, allegations of corruption and the administration’s handling of government investigative files concerning the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The administration’s decision to redact or withhold substantial portions of the Epstein files became another source of anger among supporters who believed Trump had failed to fulfil his promises.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the Daily Wire, argued that economic concerns alone could not explain the defeat.

“If you’re talking about an electoral catastrophe – a wipeout like we saw last night – you need more ingredients,” he said on his online programme.

“Here are the other ingredients: chaos and corruption.”

Laura Loomer, an influential Trump supporter, offered a particularly bleak reaction on X.

“America is over and the American Dream is dead,” she wrote.

Nevertheless, Loomer told Reuters that the election defeat did not mean MAGA was finished.

“The Republican Party belongs to President Trump,” she said.

“The MAGA movement is still the majority of the GOP base, and whoever wants to run for president in 2028 on the GOP ticket, they would be unwise to be dismissive of President Trump.”

On Thursday, Loomer announced she was suspending her podcast until January, saying she had been “running on empty for too long” and wanted to concentrate on her personal life and forthcoming wedding.

Election fraud claims lose their grip on MAGA

One of the most notable changes following the election has been the retreat of claims about widespread electoral fraud.

Such claims became central to MAGA politics after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

But this time, Republican candidates who supported Trump’s false allegations of widespread fraud suffered heavy defeats.

According to States United Action, a non-profit organisation monitoring election-denying candidates, at least 41 fewer congressional and statewide offices will be held by election deniers next year.

Candidates associated with election denial also lost 70% of the decided races for statewide positions overseeing elections.

Trump did not attempt to challenge the midterm results, instead blaming Republicans for the defeat.

With few close contests and no credible basis for challenging the results, many prominent pro-Trump activists abandoned fraud allegations and urged supporters to continue organising.

A small number continued making unsupported claims.

Among them was Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow, who promoted false allegations about voting machines during the 2020 election.

Asked about Trump’s willingness to accept the latest results, Lindell told Reuters:

“That’s his opinion. I’ve got a different opinion.”

“I think it’s all been stolen.”

Such claims, however, remained largely confined to the movement’s fringes.

Wendy Via, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, suggested that the election-denial movement could lose the financial support and public attention that had sustained it.

“Nobody’s going to be putting money behind it,” she said.

Christian nationalists split over Trump’s future

The election defeat has also divided prominent figures within MAGA’s Christian nationalist wing.

Retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who previously promoted false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, accepted the latest defeat.

He described the results as “a massacre” and criticised Trump and his administration for failing to deliver on promises ranging from lowering living costs to releasing the Epstein files.

Responding to Vice President JD Vance’s assessment on X that the Iran war was “the reason we lost”, Flynn argued that the administration’s failures extended much further.

“The sheer number of broken promises is why the blue tsunami happened,” he wrote.

Flynn also criticised Christian voters for failing to turn out.

“As a Catholic and a Christian, I’m sorely embarrassed and disappointed,” he said.

Other Christian nationalist leaders disagreed sharply over whether MAGA could survive Trump.

Douglas Wilson, a pastor invited by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to deliver a sermon at the Pentagon in February, told Reuters that the movement “is not going anywhere”.

However, he argued that it needed to become less dependent on individual personalities and concentrate more on border security, tax cuts and avoiding foreign wars.

Joel Webbon, a far-right Christian nationalist pastor from Texas, took a very different view.

“Trump lost this all by himself,” Webbon said in a video posted on X.

He accused the president of abandoning his political base by supporting Israel, launching the war with Iran and failing to fulfil his promises on the Epstein files and mass deportations.

“MAGA is dead,” Webbon wrote in an accompanying post.

“Forever.”

(Reuters)

The discussions come amid reports of financial difficulties at privately owned Arkia. Israeli media have reported that the airline recently recorded a loss, although its financial results have not been published.

Arkia’s owners have acknowledged that the company is facing a “crisis” and said they are working to find a solution.

The airline, however, stressed that “its operations continue as usual” and said it was “looking forward, making the adjustments required by a changing reality, maintaining operational stability, and continuing to develop its activity.”

Israir, valued at $144 million, and Arkia are Israel’s second- and third-largest airlines respectively, behind national carrier El Al.

(Reuters)

Authorities had recovered 21 bodies and rescued one survivor by Saturday evening, the ministry said in a statement posted on X.

The boat sank off Kebemer, a town approximately 180 kilometres north of the capital, Dakar.

Search and rescue operations were continuing as authorities looked for possible additional survivors.

The ministry said the boat was carrying people attempting to migrate irregularly but did not specify how many passengers were on board.

Thousands of migrants have died in recent years attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa, one of the main migration routes towards Europe.

According to migrant rights organisation Walking Borders, 635 people died attempting the journey during the first five months of 2026.

(Reuters)

Education Minister Athena Michaelidou made the admission in a written response to a parliamentary question from AKEL MP Christos Christofides, chairman of the House Human Rights Committee.

The response provides a detailed picture of staffing across five services responsible for supporting schools, revealing shortages that affect their ability to respond promptly to incidents and carry out preventive work.

Particular concerns surround the Educational Psychology Service, where staffing levels were rated “very low” in terms of adequacy, and the Immediate Intervention Team, which is facing growing requests for assistance from schools.

Christofides had asked the ministry to provide details of the staffing, responsibilities and operational capacity of each service involved in preventing and managing school violence, and whether staffing levels were sufficient for them to carry out their duties effectively and promptly.

In her response, Michaelidou identified five services:

• Educational Psychology Service
• Counselling and Career Education Service
• Health Education and Citizenship Committee
• Observatory on School Violence
• Immediate Intervention Team

The minister acknowledged the importance of their work, saying the services support and strengthen schools every day to help provide a safe environment that promotes emotional wellbeing and allows pupils to learn without disruption.

However, she also recognised that additional permanent staff or personnel seconded from other positions would enable the services to respond more quickly and deal more effectively with incidents of violence and delinquent behaviour.

Staffing shortages across five school support services

Official figures submitted by the ministry reveal the staffing situation and operational challenges facing each service.

Educational Psychology Service: Heavy workload limits prevention

The Educational Psychology Service has 52 permanent staff, including 49 educational psychologists working in the service and three employees in management positions.

It also employs 19 staff on indefinite-term contracts and five on fixed-term contracts.

Two senior educational psychologist posts remain vacant within management, while another educational psychologist position is unfilled because duties have been assigned to the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute.

The service supports all levels of public education, as well as private schools where requests have been submitted through the relevant District Committees for Special Education.

Its work covers pupils, parents and teachers through individual support for learning, emotional, social and adjustment difficulties, alongside preventive interventions, workshops and programmes for entire school populations or specific groups.

Its main responsibilities include psychological assessment, counselling, mental health promotion, training for teachers and parents, and crisis management.

However, the ministry rated satisfaction with the service’s staffing levels as very low.

District offices in Limassol and Paphos do not have a senior educational psychologist because of management staffing shortages. Educational psychologists are covering those responsibilities instead.

At the same time, the high volume of requests for pupil assessments leaves psychologists with little opportunity to undertake preventive work in schools.

The ministry warned that without sufficient time to invest in prevention, children’s psychological and educational needs remain unmet.

“The heavy workload of both management and frontline staff undermines the quality of the work provided and leaves insufficient capacity for the necessary supervision of operations at both levels,” Michaelidou said.

“The lack of a proper hierarchical structure creates additional problems because there is no incentive for career progression.”

Counselling and Career Education Service: Teachers covering up to three schools

The Counselling and Career Education Service has a reported total workforce of 234 people.

The ministry’s breakdown lists 156 permanent counselling and career education teachers, 15 permanent teachers serving probationary periods, 40 teachers on contracts or indefinite-term employment arrangements, and 14 seconded teachers.

It also identifies 11 counselling teachers assigned to central and district education offices, two of whom also work in schools.

The service combines personal counselling with educational and career guidance, helping pupils and young people identify their needs, interests and abilities, cope with difficulties and make informed decisions about their lives, education and careers.

Its work includes developing self-awareness, confidence, decision-making skills and the ability to handle personal, family and social difficulties.

It also supports pupils’ adjustment to school, educational and social development, and career planning.

Other responsibilities include producing educational materials, participating in national lifelong guidance initiatives, contributing to ministry committees and handling administrative matters relating to counselling and career education.

Michaelidou said staffing had improved in recent years, with the additional personnel helping increase the counselling time available relative to pupil numbers.

However, the specialised nature of the service makes it difficult to provide consistent and balanced coverage across all schools.

In several cases, a single counselling teacher must cover two or even three schools.

As a result, counsellors are not present at each school every day, and the support they provide is more fragmented.

The ministry said further recruitment, combined with better planning for staff deployment, could improve continuity, availability and equality of access to counselling services.

Health Education and Citizenship Committee: Just three staff

The Health Education and Citizenship Committee operates with three staff members.

Its main responsibility is coordinating the Education Ministry’s work under the National Strategy for Addressing Addictions 2021–2028, in cooperation with the Cyprus National Addictions Authority and other relevant organisations.

Within schools, its work focuses primarily on prevention and strengthening the protective role of education against addiction and other risky behaviour.

The committee helps implement established prevention, management and referral procedures.

These include the cooperation protocol for preventing and addressing illegal addictive substances in schools and the protocol for referring pupils displaying addictive behaviours to specialised programmes.

It also coordinates support for children from vulnerable groups, funding their participation in creative activities outside school hours.

During the current school year, the committee is working with the Cyprus National Addictions Authority to introduce a monitoring form in schools to strengthen preventive policies on smoking, vaping and addictive behaviours.

Michaelidou acknowledged that the committee needs additional staff because of its growing workload and wide range of responsibilities.

She said reinforcement would help it respond more effectively to schools’ increasing needs while expanding and systematically monitoring preventive programmes and interventions.

Observatory on School Violence: Nine staff responsible for monitoring incidents

The Observatory on School Violence has nine staff members: one coordinator and eight officers.

It provides training seminars, educational programmes and workshops for teachers across all levels of education.

The observatory collects, records and analyses information about the extent and different forms of violence in schools.

It also gathers quantitative and qualitative data on effective practices for preventing and tackling violence and delinquent behaviour.

Another part of its work involves cooperation with teachers, social partners, government departments, non-governmental organisations and other bodies.

It submits recommendations to help shape policy on preventing and managing school violence.

The observatory continues to provide a range of important training seminars during the current school year.

However, Michaelidou said the need to strengthen its staffing was clear.

Immediate Intervention Team: Rising incidents put pressure on 12 officers

The Immediate Intervention Team has 12 officers working on full-time or part-time secondments across Cyprus.

Its role is to provide prompt support to schools dealing with serious incidents of violence and extreme delinquent behaviour.

These include vandalism, physical assaults, aggression, serious refusal to follow school rules or instructions, conflicts, group-related incidents and fights involving individual pupils or groups.

The team’s main responsibility is to help schools manage serious incidents while supporting pupils enrolled in its Alternative Attendance Programme.

The aim is to address negative attitudes and behaviour and improve the wider school environment.

When called to intervene, the team helps develop, implement and monitor an action plan tailored to the school’s problems.

The plan includes educational and administrative measures, a description of the problem, clearly defined responsibilities and implementation deadlines agreed by those involved.

The team coordinates and supports the plan’s implementation and helps adjust it when necessary.

It works with school management, teaching staff, secondary education counsellors, educational psychologists, inspectors, parents and guardians.

It also cooperates with other relevant services and authorities to ensure that incidents are addressed through a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach.

However, the ministry said the rising number of incidents in recent years, along with increasing requests for intervention from schools, has made additional staffing necessary.

“The continuing increase in incidents of school violence and delinquent behaviour observed in recent years, and the resulting rise in requests for intervention submitted by schools to the Immediate Intervention Team, make it necessary to increase the number of seconded officers so that the service can respond more promptly and effectively,” the ministry’s response said.

Fotini Tsiridou proposes law to tackle organised cyberbullying

Cyprus’s parliament is examining a bill proposed by House Legal Affairs Committee chairwoman Fotini Tsiridou aimed at tackling serious online harassment and coordinated intimidation campaigns.

The proposal would introduce new criminal offences covering online and social media activities that target individuals and their families.

It seeks to strengthen the existing 2021 legislation on protection against harassment and stalking by addressing newer forms of online targeting made possible by technological developments.

Two proposed offences are at the centre of the legislation.

The first concerns organised online targeting.

To establish the offence, prosecutors would have to prove prior agreement or other coordinated action, knowledge of the organised nature of the conduct and a substantial contribution by the accused to behaviour constituting an offence.

The proposal makes clear that multiple people expressing the same or similar opinions about someone would not automatically constitute organised targeting.

Instead, there must be a shared purpose to harass or intimidate a specific individual.

The second offence concerns the malicious publication of information that can identify or locate someone, a practice internationally known as doxxing.

This would cover the unauthorised publication of information such as residential addresses, current or usual locations, personal telephone numbers, workplace details or information identifying underage family members.

For the conduct to become a criminal offence, the publication would have to be intended to cause fear or harassment, or be objectively capable of exposing the person concerned or their family to a real and serious risk.

The bill would not replace existing data protection legislation.

Instead, it would specifically address cases where personal information is used to intimidate, harass or expose people to danger.

Safeguards for freedom of expression

The proposal places particular emphasis on protecting freedom of expression.

It includes explicit safeguards for political criticism, investigative journalism, satire, academic and scientific expression, and participation in public debate.

Speaking after the latest meeting of the House Legal Affairs Committee, Tsiridou stressed that the bill was not intended to criminalise disagreement, heated debate or unwelcome criticism.

“Lawful criticism is protected. Criminally punishable harassment is dealt with on the basis of specific elements that must be proven,” she said.

Tsiridou also argued that public officials must accept greater scrutiny and robust criticism.

She said freedom of expression and protection of individuals’ rights must coexist through an appropriate balance.

The proposal provides for graduated penalties and aggravating circumstances.

These include using fake or multiple accounts, automated systems to distribute content on a large scale, or continuing unlawful conduct despite a court order or formal warning from a competent authority.

It would also strengthen judicial powers, allowing courts to order unlawful online conduct to stop and require the removal of, or restrictions on access to, content controlled by the person involved where that content appears, on initial examination, to form part of the alleged harassment.

Tsiridou welcomed the response of the relevant institutions, saying the Attorney-General’s Office, Justice Ministry and Cyprus Bar Association had supported the proposal.

Christos Christofides: National strategy needs measurable targets and accountability

AKEL MP Christos Christofides has called for immediate staffing increases and a clear implementation plan to tackle school violence, arguing that government statements and isolated interventions are not enough.

In comments to Phileleftheros, Christofides said his parliamentary question had exposed serious shortcomings in the Education Ministry’s support services.

“For several years, we have insisted that violence and delinquent behaviour in schools cannot be tackled through announcements, public relations assurances and piecemeal interventions,” he said.

“What is needed is prevention, early support for children and meaningful reinforcement of the services responsible for preventing and managing these incidents.”

Christofides described the minister’s response to his parliamentary question as revealing.

“The Education Ministry itself acknowledges that the Immediate Intervention Team needs more officers because incidents of violence and requests from schools are increasing.

“It also admits that the Educational Psychology Service, the Observatory on School Violence and the Health Education and Citizenship Committee need further reinforcement,” he said.

He also highlighted the ministry’s findings concerning counselling services.

“For Counselling and Career Education, the ministry records that in several cases a single teacher covers two or even three schools, meaning they are not present every day and support is provided on a fragmented basis.

“These are not our assessments. They are the ministry’s own findings.

“When the needs are known, acknowledging them is not enough. There must be a plan, and it must be implemented.”

National strategy ‘effectively left in limbo’

Christofides also criticised the implementation of legislation intended to address violence in schools.

“Since 2023, we have been warning that the legislation on school violence was not being implemented and calling for substantial changes and enforcement.

“The law was amended in 2024, but everyday life in schools continues to show that prevention and support structures are inadequate.

“The National Strategy 2024–2028 must have measurable targets, timetables and public accountability. At present, it is effectively left in limbo.”

The MP called for immediate recruitment of permanent, specialised staff for the Immediate Intervention Team, educational psychology services and prevention programmes.

He also stressed the need to ensure that every school has regular access to psychologists and counsellors.

“Every school must have regular access to a psychologist and counsellor, clear protocols, early intervention and ongoing cooperation with social and health services.

“We also need systematic recording and assessment of incidents, as well as meaningful training for teachers and parents.

“School safety is not secured through stern government announcements and statements after every incident.

“It is secured when the state prevents problems, provides support and protects people.

“Children, teachers and families cannot wait for another announcement,” Christofides said.

Researcher and author Andreas Nicolaides argues that migration in the occupied territories cannot be understood separately from the Cyprus problem, Turkey’s political influence and the lack of internationally recognised institutions in the north.

His book, Migration Flows in a ‘Ghost State’: Settlers, Workers, Students and Refugees in the Occupied Territories of the Republic of Cyprus, examines the complex relationships between Turkish Cypriots, Turkish settlers and migrants from other countries.

“The issue of migration in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus reveals a complex and controversial landscape shaped by historical, political and social developments,” Nicolaides writes.

“The coexistence of Turkish Cypriots, Turkish settlers and migrants, and migrants from third countries creates a complex social mosaic, with diverse cultural, political and economic relationships, often marked by ambiguity, tension and the exploitation of the most vulnerable migrant groups.”

The study was published in 2026 by Hippasus Publications with funding from the Universitas Foundation. Its academic editor was Universitas president Nicos Peristianis, while the foundation’s director, Katerina Hadjistylli, was responsible for language editing.

Nicolaides argues that migration, both in the occupied north and across Cyprus, cannot be separated from the island’s geopolitical and legal circumstances.

“The existing conditions and legal shortcomings of the self-declared administration in the ‘TRNC’, Turkey’s political influence, the absence of a regulatory framework for migration and, above all, the continuing uncertainty over the final settlement of the Cyprus problem make managing the issue extremely complicated,” the study states.

It argues that the unresolved Cyprus problem does more than perpetuate political deadlock. It creates new, interconnected and increasingly serious problems, with significant humanitarian consequences, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Human exploitation, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, rising crime and the inability to provide effective protection and asylum are among the issues Nicolaides links to Cyprus’s continuing division.

The study maintains that the failure to resolve the Cyprus problem not only sustains existing difficulties but also creates new challenges affecting migration flows and the ability of authorities across the island to manage them effectively.

A difficult personal experience

To mark the book’s publication, Phileleftheros met Nicolaides to discuss the research process, which took more than a year and involved visits to several areas of occupied Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta.

Nicolaides, 43, was born and raised in Athienou. He studied Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cyprus and graduated from the Vladimiros Kafkaridis Drama School.

He also holds a master’s degree in directing and acting from the Open University.

He has worked as an actor in theatre and film, collaborated with the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) as a screenwriter and written novellas, plays and poetry. More recently, he has been working full-time as a copywriter at an advertising agency.

“My relationship with research has its roots in my Turkish Studies degree at the University of Cyprus, where I specialised in history and politics,” he told Phileleftheros.

“Although I subsequently followed different professional and writing paths, my interest in this country and its history has always remained with me, both through my involvement in public affairs and through various things I have written.”

It was during this journey that he met Nicos Peristianis, who knew his academic and writing background and suggested that he undertake a study of migration flows in the occupied territories.

“The truth is that I hesitated. It took me about two months to decide. I was aware of the difficulty, complexity and sensitivity of the subject. Eventually, I accepted the proposal and began the study, with Nicos Peristianis providing invaluable guidance.”

For Nicolaides, the motivation was both personal and humanitarian.

“If someone asked me what my main motivation was, I would say, first and foremost, my concern for this country. And, of course, the humanitarian dimension of the issue, as well as my love of research.

“This particular research project, however, also proved to be a difficult personal experience.

“Especially at the beginning, I struggled to cope with what I was reading and learning. There were painful stories about people that deeply disturbed me.

“This was not information I could simply write down, close my computer and carry on with my day as though nothing had happened.

“Those stories stayed with me. They affected my thoughts, my everyday life and even my sleep.”

Finding reliable information and people willing to speak to him in the occupied north was another challenge.

“Finding sources and people on the other side was far from easy,” Nicolaides said.

“Nevertheless, I managed to speak with lawyers, migrants, NGO representatives, members of student organisations and associations, and people with first-hand knowledge of the reality I was trying to study.”

His research drew on books, academic studies, news reports, archival material, reports by international organisations, government bodies and humanitarian groups, as well as documents and statistical data from the Republic of Cyprus.

He also examined information published by services and organisations operating under the unrecognised administration in the occupied north, paying particular attention to questions of reliability and interpretation.

Personal interviews formed an important part of the research.

These included discussions with asylum seekers, legal advisers, humanitarian workers, officials from the Republic’s Asylum Service and Cyprus Police, sociologists and researchers.

“I tried, as far as possible, to cross-check information and approach the gaps and contradictions in the available data with particular care,” he said.

“As the research progressed, I increasingly realised that migration in the occupied territories cannot be examined in isolation from the Cyprus problem.

“On the contrary, it is another consequence of the island’s continuing division.”

The ‘university industry’ and human trafficking

The administration in the occupied north uses universities both as a route towards recognition and as a lucrative business opportunity, with enormous sums invested and generated.

One of the study’s central findings concerns the rapid growth of universities in the occupied north and the risks facing some of the thousands of foreign students who travel there.

“The chapter on students is among the most important in the study, because thousands of young people from Turkey and many other countries are studying in the occupied territories,” Nicolaides said.

“During the research period, some estimates put the number of foreign students at approximately 110,000.”

He said the expansion of university education had created a new economic, social and demographic reality, providing substantial revenue for the budget of the self-declared “TRNC”.

“The other side also uses universities as a route towards recognition and as a business opportunity, with enormous sums being invested in and earned from this ‘university industry’.”

But Nicolaides said the sector had also been associated with scandals and serious forms of exploitation.

These included misleading promises about education and employment, fraud, labour and sexual exploitation, and cases of human trafficking.

“That certainly does not mean this is every student’s experience. But some people arrive in the occupied territories with a dream and end up trapped in a nightmare, living in conditions they could never have imagined.”

Refugees and asylum seekers face similarly serious difficulties, he said.

The legal uncertainty surrounding the administration in the north, the absence of an effective asylum system, serious gaps in human rights protection and problems with implementing international conventions create an extremely precarious environment.

“The study documents cases of people living in appalling conditions, without meaningful protection, facing exploitation, insecurity and uncertainty about their future.”

These problems do not stop at the Green Line.

Nicolaides said the Republic of Cyprus also faces serious challenges in managing migration and asylum, with the island’s division creating difficulties that extend beyond the northern part.

“The buffer zone is, in reality, anything but ‘dead’,” he said.

“It is a place where many things happen, where people move, where tensions arise and where, in quite a few cases, people become trapped.”

The legal and administrative uncertainty is particularly acute.

The Republic of Cyprus has its own responsibilities and obligations, the administration in the occupied north intervenes in its own way, and the United Nations operates between them with a specific mandate but limited powers of intervention.

This complex arrangement makes effective monitoring and management of people’s movements even harder.

“And caught in all this legal uncertainty are human beings. There have been cases in which the Republic of Cyprus has faced complaints and adverse rulings by European courts,” Nicolaides said.

“Even if we set aside the humanitarian dimension, or the religious one, if you prefer, there are laws, international conventions and provisions that require us to meet our obligations towards these people.

“We cannot justify human suffering, exploitation or mistreatment through legal ambiguity or nationalist and racist outbursts.

“What I realised when completing the study is that the unresolved Cyprus problem does not merely perpetuate the problems we already know about. It continually creates new ones.

“And very often, those who pay the price are the people in the most vulnerable position.”

Foreign students exploited: Men on farms, women forced into prostitution

Numerous cases of trafficking involving young women from African countries.

Nicolaides’s study cites research by the student organisation VOIS Cyprus, which represents and supports the rights of foreign students in the self-declared “TRNC”.

According to the research, more than half of the 800 students surveyed reported negative experiences with the agents who had arranged their studies.

African students accounted for 79.1% of the survey sample.

During 2025, Nicolaides interviewed Emmanuel Achiri, co-founder of VOIS Cyprus, a doctoral candidate in international relations and a legal adviser specialising in combating racism in Europe.

Achiri described how students can become trapped in a cycle of financial hardship, irregular immigration status and exploitation.

“Students often try to find work but are unable to do so, leaving them unable to pay their university fees,” he said.

“They become inactive students and eventually find themselves in an irregular situation, without being able to return easily to their home countries.

“In many cases, they fear social disapproval because their families have invested substantial sums in their education abroad.

“In many African societies, the opportunity to study overseas is considered particularly important, increasing the pressure on young people to succeed.

“As a result, they remain in the country, hoping to find employment and complete their studies.”

Achiri said male students often find work in construction, agriculture and on farms.

He also raised serious concerns about the trafficking and sexual exploitation of young women.

“Unfortunately, there are also numerous cases of trafficking involving young women from African countries.

“Many are forced into prostitution by traffickers or criminal groups.

“They are deceived and, after arriving, taken to private apartments where pressure and blackmail over debts owed to agents push them into sexual exploitation.

“When they resist, they often suffer physical or psychological abuse.

“These are clear examples of human trafficking.”

US State Department report documents exploitation

Nicolaides also cites the US State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report as evidence supporting concerns about human trafficking in the occupied north.

The report describes the vulnerability of foreign university students and other migrant groups in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area.

“Foreign university students, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East, make up 30% of the total population in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area,” according to the passage reproduced in Nicolaides’s study.

The report says Turkish Cypriot-funded and for-profit universities pay unregulated agents and recruitment agencies up to €1,000 for each student successfully enrolled.

Recruiters deceive prospective students with false promises of scholarships, free accommodation and employment.

Unlicensed lenders also provide loans to students and seize their passports as collateral, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking as they attempt to repay their debts.

The report describes female students being forced into sexual exploitation in apartments, while male students are subjected to forced labour or pushed into criminal activities, including transporting or selling drugs.

It also identifies local business owners who deceive newly arrived students into working in nightclubs, casinos, hotels and other establishments under inhumane conditions, sometimes for little or no pay.

Migrants, asylum seekers, LGBTQI+ people, refugees and their children also face an increased risk of sexual exploitation, according to the report.

Filling the knowledge gap about the ‘other’ Cyprus

Nicos Peristianis, a sociologist and president of the Universitas Foundation, said he commissioned Nicolaides’s research because of a significant gap in what is known about migration in the occupied north.

“As president of the Universitas Foundation, I commissioned Andreas Nicolaides to carry out the research that led to the book Migration Flows in a Ghost State: Settlers, Workers, Students and Refugees in the Occupied Territories of the Republic of Cyprus, recognising an important gap in our knowledge of Cyprus,” he told Phileleftheros.

“While we have considerable information and research on migration, foreign workers, international students and asylum in the government-controlled areas of the Republic of Cyprus, we know comparatively little about the corresponding phenomena in the self-proclaimed ‘TRNC’.”

He argued that this lack of information limits understanding of the social and demographic changes taking place across the island.

A particularly important example is the situation facing people who arrive in the occupied north seeking international protection.

“How many are there, and which countries do they come from? Why do they choose this route? What role does Turkey play, and to what extent does it facilitate or encourage their movement?

“How do the ‘authorities’ there treat them? Under what conditions, and through which networks, do some cross into the government-controlled areas?

“These are questions that require systematic research, beyond speculation and political agendas.”

Peristianis said the foundation’s mission was to promote knowledge about issues that could improve people’s lives.

“The value of this research lies precisely in linking knowledge with that responsibility: gaining a better understanding of developments in the occupied territories, encouraging a more meaningful public debate and developing more effective, people-centred policies.

“Because behind migration flows and demographic changes are people with needs, rights and aspirations.”

The party said the dog had allegedly been roaming freely on a road for approximately a year, repeatedly putting passing motorists and the animal itself at risk.

Its intervention follows a report and video published by Cyprus Times concerning the dog’s treatment and an incident in which a female driver nearly lost control of her vehicle and fell into a deep ravine.

The Greens also raised allegations that the dog’s owner had physically abused the animal, reportedly hitting and kicking it. They said video evidence of the alleged mistreatment exists.

The party criticised what it described as a failure by the authorities to address repeated complaints before a serious accident occurred.

According to the published testimony cited by the Greens, residents had repeatedly reported the situation to the local police station, the village community leader and the Animal Police.

The Greens questioned how those complaints had been handled and why no effective solution had been found.

The party called for an immediate investigation and the seizure of the dog, as well as checks to establish whether its owner keeps other animals that may also need to be removed.

It also demanded a veterinary examination to assess the dog’s health and welfare, an investigation into the alleged abuse and a review of how the authorities responded to earlier complaints.

The Greens said measures must be taken to ensure the dog is not returned to conditions that endanger either the animal or public safety.

The party stressed that protecting the public and safeguarding animal welfare are not competing objectives, arguing that a dog left to roam on roads with dangerous bends and steep ravines is itself exposed to serious danger.

It said the authorities had a duty to intervene before a tragedy occurred.

The Greens also announced plans to refer the case to the Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights, the relevant ministers and the Chief of Police, where appropriate and within their respective powers.

The referrals will seek investigations into possible administrative failures, maladministration or other misconduct.

The party argued that serious omissions appeared to have occurred and that the dog should have been seized long ago.

Anthie Mouzouri, coordinator of the Green Party’s Animal Action Group, urged the Animal Police and all relevant authorities to take immediate action.

She also said the group’s own attempts to contact the Nicosia Animal Police had received no response.

“Our own attempts to contact the Nicosia Animal Police have so far gone unanswered, as nobody answers the contact numbers available to us,” Mouzouri said.

The Green Party said it would continue monitoring the case and demanded an immediate response from the authorities, citing serious concerns about the dog’s safety and welfare.

The bodies are those of two women and a man believed to be close relatives of the gunman, Tusk said.

“They appear to be members of his immediate family,” the prime minister said, without providing further details about how they died.

He added that the bodies were discovered after drone images were taken over the property.

Polish media reported that the victims were the gunman’s parents and sister, although authorities have not officially confirmed their identities.

Tusk declared two days of national mourning.

At least six people were killed and 15 others injured after a gunman opened fire at a crowded market square in Krakow, Poland, on Saturday, authorities said. The suspect drove into the city’s historic Main Market Square around 3 p.m. and began firing at people from his vehicle. Police confronted and shot the gunman a short distance from the scene before taking him into custody.

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 7, 2026

British national among six killed in shooting

A British national was among six people killed when a 25-year-old Polish gunman opened fire in Krakow, the country’s police chief announced.

“Six people were killed: four women and two men. Three Polish women, one British citizen and two people who have not yet been identified,” police chief Marek Boroń told a press conference.

He said another 15 people were injured.

Five foreign nationals were among the injured, from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia.

Police seriously wounded the gunman.

Police search for weapons and possible explosives

Polish authorities are carrying out extensive searches at the suspect’s home and his family’s property amid concerns that large quantities of weapons may be stored there.

“There may be many weapons, many firearms inside the house,” Tusk said.

The prime minister expressed confidence that authorities would soon identify and arrest any possible accomplices or supporters of the gunman.

He also thanked police officers who “saved many lives, risking their own”.

Far-right ideology investigated as possible motive

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the gunman had been influenced by far-right ideology.

“Everything indicates that the perpetrator was influenced by far-right ideology, an issue that will also be investigated,” the minister told reporters.

“Police officers are at the scene, as are agents from the Internal Security Agency, both here, at the scene of the incident, and at the individual’s family home,” he added.

Tusk also described the deadly shooting as a “terrorist act”, saying the gunman had been influenced by far-right ideology.

“In Poland, we have not experienced such radical acts of terrorism, because that is what this horrific attack on human lives here in Krakow must be called,” he told a press conference.