The numerical scores and status listed here do not reflect conditions in Northern Cyprus, which is examined in a separate report. Freedom in the World reports assess the level of political rights and civil liberties in a given geographical area, regardless of whether they are affected by the state, nonstate actors, or foreign powers. Related, disputed, or occupied territories are sometimes assessed separately if they meet certain criteria, including distinct conditions for political rights and civil liberties and boundaries that are sufficiently stable to allow year-on-year comparisons. For more information, see the report methodology and FAQ.

The Republic of Cyprus is a democracy with de jure sovereignty over the entire island. In practice, however, the government controls only the southern, largely Greek-speaking part of the island, as the northern area is ruled by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Turkey. Political rights and civil liberties are generally respected in the Republic of Cyprus. Ongoing concerns include corruption, societal discrimination against minority groups, obstacles to integration and violence affecting migrants, and weaknesses in the asylum system.

• Through a combination of pushbacks, by land and sea, and deportations, both voluntary and involuntary, the government achieved a net decrease in the presence of irregular migrants during the year. The number of new asylum requests declined to one of the lowest such figures in several years, and the government in April suspended processing of asylum requests from Syrian nationals pending a reassessment of Syria’s safety status. However, in October the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the authorities’ established practice of intercepting people at sea and immediately returning them to Lebanon without considering asylum claims amounted to a violation of international law. Separately, in May the authorities began pushing asylum seekers who attempted to enter by land via Northern Cyprus back into the United Nations buffer zone that divides the island; under international pressure, the government helped to remove stranded individuals from the buffer zone in November, but said they would be sent to other countries rather than being allowed to apply for asylum in Cyprus.
• In January, a bomb exploded outside the offices of the nongovernmental organization Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism (KISA), seriously damaging the premises. The group had long faced threats from far-right groups due to its advocacy on behalf of migrants and asylum seekers. It was deregistered by the government in 2020 and faced possible dissolution, but an appeal of that decision was still pending as of 2024.
• Municipal and European Parliament (EP) elections were held in June. The leftist Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) performed well in municipal councils, but the governing center-right Democratic Rally (DISY) led the EP voting and took two of the six contested seats. The remaining four went to AKEL, the centrist Democratic Party (DIKO), the far-right National Popular Front (ELAM), and 24-year-old Fidias Panagiotou, a social media star who ran as an independent opposed to the party establishment.
• In September, Auditor-General Odysseas Michaelides was dismissed by the Supreme Court. He and his supporters argued that his ouster was attempt by the DISY leadership and its allies on the court to halt his exposure of corruption and other wrongdoing, in which both the current president and his predecessor were allegedly implicated. President Nikos Christodoulides swiftly appointed a new auditor-general, Andreas Papaconstantinou, but Michaelides said he would challenge his dismissal before the European Court of Human Rights.

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For additional background information, see last year’s full report.