What is happening on the island — the property market, transport, weather and life in the towns. Updated daily.
This page is not a regular article — it is our running diary of what is happening in North Cyprus. We follow the property market, transport and flights, the weather and the bigger events in the towns. A new entry is added every day, each one under its own date.
15 September 2026
The school year is now fully under way — secondary and vocational schools went back today, so expect heavier morning traffic in Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta. The first day comes with a school-bus dispute: the Turkish Cypriot Public Transporters' Union says it will not start carrying pupils until a protocol and new contracts are signed, and wants fares to be adjusted automatically in line with fuel, wage and insurance costs. Education minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu opened the rebuilt primary school in Çayırova, which replaces a building that no longer met earthquake safety standards. The search at the wreck of the ferry Filo Jet continues — fourteen of the twenty-eight people who went missing have been found so far, the area around the wreck at a depth of about 554 metres is monitored around the clock by aircraft, drones and helicopters, and a company specialising in deep-sea operations is preparing to work inside the vessel. The sinking has political consequences too: speaking in Kyrenia, the leader of the opposition CTP, Sıla Usar İncirli, called for maritime administration to be separated from port management, for a standalone maritime department to be set up and for vessel inspections to be tightened. Ahead of December's local elections the first candidates are coming forward — businessman Koral Bozkurt announced his candidacy for mayor of Famagusta. The weather stays summery — 28 to 31 °C on the coast, 34 to 37 °C inland, 30 to 33 °C in the mountains and 22 to 25 °C at night by the sea, under partly cloudy skies. On Thursday 17 September the leaders of the two parts of the island, Tufan Erhürman and Nikos Christodoulides, meet in the buffer zone.
14 September 2026
The school year started on the island today — around 59,000 primary-school pupils went back to their classrooms, with secondary and vocational schools following on Tuesday. Expect heavier traffic in Kyrenia and Nicosia between seven and eight in the morning. A new phase of the search has begun at the wreck of the ferry Filo Jet: the deep-sea survey vessel Optimus Prime has arrived at the site and is working at a depth of around 554 metres with a remotely operated vehicle rated to a thousand metres, concentrating on the interior of the wreck where the missing are being looked for. The weather stays two to three degrees above the September average: 37 °C was recorded in Nicosia and near Ercan, 33 °C in Famagusta and 32 °C in Kyrenia and Iskele. On Thursday 17 September the leaders of the two parts of the island, Tufan Erhürman and Nikos Christodoulides, meet again in the buffer zone.
13 September 2026
The investigation into the sinking of the Filo Jet has moved on to an expert report commissioned by the police: it found that the crew gave passengers no evacuation instructions, that the distress call went out late and that the captain left the ship without managing the emergency. The captain, seven crew members and the shipping company's managing director are in custody in an investigation into causing death by negligence; the toll stands at fourteen dead and fourteen missing. The property market remains subdued — hardly any new projects have been launched this year and construction costs are roughly a fifth higher than a year ago, so developers are sitting tight rather than selling at a loss. The weather is still summery: around 32 °C by day, around 23 °C at night, and the sea off Kyrenia is still about 27 °C. Primary schools go back on Monday, so expect heavier morning traffic in Kyrenia and Nicosia.
12 September 2026
Parliament sent a resolution on early elections to committee for fast-track review; the vote would be held on 6 December alongside the local elections, but the date only becomes final once at least 26 of the fifty members approve it. Prime Minister Ünal Üstel's government is down to 25 seats after the YDP left the coalition, which it did when transport and public works minister Erhan Arıklı was removed following the sinking of the Filo Jet. Fourteen deaths have now been confirmed in the 30 August disaster and fourteen people remain missing; nine people have been detained in connection with it, including the ship's captain. The school year starts on Monday 14 September in primary schools and on Tuesday 15 September in secondary and vocational ones — some 59,000 pupils return to 196 schools, so expect heavier morning traffic in the towns.
11 September 2026
The island's news is still dominated by the sinking of the ferry Filo Jet, which went down on 30 August on the run from Kyrenia to Taşucu in Turkey with 259 passengers and eight crew on board; 239 people were rescued and the search for those still missing continues. The wreck has been located at a depth of around 550 metres, where the Turkish naval vessels TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar are working with remotely operated underwater craft. Prime Minister Ünal Üstel met officials in Ankara this week to discuss the next steps in the operation. If you are planning to travel by ferry from Kyrenia, check the sailing directly with the operator before you set off.
The heat over the island held until today — temperatures of up to 39 °C were reported, and with the sea off Kyrenia sitting around 27 °C in September, the swimming season carries on. On the property side, Decree-Law 63/2026 remains the framework; it came into force on 11 May and reshaped how foreigners acquire property, introducing a ten-year right-of-use certificate, licensed intermediaries and a cap of 80 percent of a single project being sold to foreign buyers. The market itself is subdued, with transaction volumes down on previous years. Nothing changes in the air — Ercan is still served only by routes through Turkey, with roughly four hundred flights a week from twelve airports, mostly on Pegasus, AJet and SunExpress. In education, the final preparations for the new school year are under way: the renovated high school in Erenköy, for example, is due to have twelve new classrooms ready by 14 September.
