Government denies claim that Afghan President was seeking asylum in Cyprus

The Cyprus government has denied a Turkish newspaper report about an application by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for asylum in the Republic of Cyprus.

Government Spokesman, Marios Pelekanos, said in a written statement that “we would like to clarify that such a request has never been submitted to the Asylum Service of the Interior Ministry, nor to any of our embassies abroad.”

The Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak had claimed that Ghani had applied or was considering applying for asylum in Cyprus.