Two Greek Cypriots held for nationalist graffiti in north

TWO Greek Cypriots were arrested on Tuesday in the occupied areas for spraying the word ‘ELLAS’ (Greece) on sign posts and walls in Rizokarpaso village.

The two men, named by the Turkish Cypriot authorities as 28-year-old Demetris Georgiou and Georgios Vanezos, 26, were yesterday taken to ‘court’ in the north, where they were ordered to pay €500 each and 2,000 Turkish lira as a guarantee before being released.

Georgiou and Vanezos had visited the occupied areas on Tuesday morning. They were caught and detained overnight as they attempted to return to the free areas.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.