Cyprus renames avenues in honor of former presidents; Atatürk Street in question

In the Nicosia suburb of Strovolos, two new avenues will be named after former Presidents of the Republic of Cyprus — Demetris Christofias and Tassos Papadopoulos. This decision implements a long-standing unanimous resolution of the municipal council, adopted back when former mayor Andreas Papacharalambous was in office, with the aim of honoring the memory of three former presidents (the third part of the plan has already been carried out — the Strovolos sports center was named after Glafcos Clerides).

The newly opened three-kilometer Argyroupolis Avenue, connecting Lakatamia with Strovolos and Lakatamia, will be renamed Demetris Christofias Avenue. The new road, opened to traffic on June 4, 2026, connects the Nicosia–Limassol highway with Tseriou Avenue. Authorities expect that this major project, which has been on the state’s development priorities for more than twenty years, will ease traffic into the capital during the morning rush hour and reduce pressure on Spyros Kyprianou Avenue. The second renamed thoroughfare will be Alexandroupolis Avenue — it will receive the name of Tassos Papadopoulos once construction work is completed.

At the same time, in Paphos, a similar initiative to rename Kemal Atatürk Street in the Mouttalos district (where Turkish Cypriots lived until 1974) has stalled. The issue has been ongoing since 2021, when former President Nicos Anastasiades opposed changing the name to «Nikos Kapetanidis Street», fearing it could harm negotiations on the Cyprus problem. In May 2026, the Paphos municipality nevertheless approved the renaming, but the decision is now frozen for administrative reasons: the city is drafting a new regulation governing the renaming of streets and squares, and until it is approved, the procedure has been put on hold due to the absence of its own rules.